AB de Villiers' bullet throw made the difference for South Africa Champions in their thrilling last-ball win against Australia Champions in the World Championship of Legends semi-final.
The in-form skipper couldn't create impact with the bat, falling for a four-ball six, but fellow opener JJ Smuts' fifty, along with Morne van Wyk's 76 off 35, carried SA Champions to 186-8. At one point, they looked set to cross 200, but ended up losing their last four wickets for just four runs.
Peter Siddle was the pick of the bowlers, claiming four.
2nd Semi-Final, South Africa Champions vs Australia Champions
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- Ball by ball Over
Australia Champions, powered by contributions from their top three, looked on course for the target, but had a slight middle-order stutter. At the end of the 19th over, they needed 14 runs with four wickets in hand.
Dan Christian was crucially still around as Wayne Parnell prepared for the last over. Rob Quiney struck the first ball for a six to keep things interesting, but they managed only five off the next four balls, leaving them with three to get of the final delivery.
Quiney then retired out, getting in Nathan Coulter-Nile to run alongside Christian, who was on strike.
Parnell bowled a yorker that Christian dug out, the ball hurtling towards long-on as the batters ran across. With two needed to tie, they pushed hard for the second, but in came de Villiers, swooping in and releasing the ball in a flash.
Coulter-Nile tried hard to make his ground, but couldn't beat the throw. The umpires had to check if Parnell has cleanly collected - for a moment, it felt he might have fumbled - but the green light confirmed that SA had snuck through, reaching the final to face Pakistan.
The result would have been a relief for scores of fans who have seen SA stutter and fail at knockout competitions across decades. At this very venue, these two teams had a similar last-ball finish in the 1999 ODI World Cup, when Allan Donald was (in)famously run out, leading to a tie, and consequently, an Australia win.
Then in 2015, de Villiers himself was at the centre of a missed run-out chance in their heartbreaking loss to New Zealand. The list goes on.
While not at the biggest stage anymore, de Villiers - and South Africa - held on to their chance this time. And Donald was in the dugout, cheering along.
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