5. South Africa v India – Colombo, 2002:
Batting first, the Men in Blue rode on Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh’s half-centuries to post 261 for 9 wickets in the allotted 50 overs. In reply, South Africa began poorly with Graeme Smith returning to the hut in the third over courtesy of a spectacular catch by Yuvraj Singh. After that, Herschelle Gibbs and Jacques Kallis not only steadied the ship but also put the Proteas in command of the proceedings with a 178-run stand before Gibbs was forced to retire hurt with cramp on 116. It was the 37th over the innings, and South Africa were 192/1, clearly the favourites to come out on top.
However, Gibbs’ departure turned the match on its head. Two runs after Gibbs was retired hurt, Yuvraj Singh took another blinder to send back Jonty Rhodes. Boeta Dippenaar and Mark Boucher also perished cheaply as South Africa suddenly found themselves in a mess.
Their only hope was a well-set Kallis but even he could not keep up the pace with the required run-rate as the equation came down to 21 runs from the final over which was bowled by Sehwag. Kallis began the over by hitting a six but his dismissal on the very next delivery all but sealed the match for Sourav Ganguly’s men who had gone on to win the match by 10 runs.