When Africa chased 434 runs, a bowler made a unique record, 1 ball overshadowed Gibbs-Ponting’s century.

New Delhi. 12 March 2006… That evening at Wanderers Stadium, which cricket history can never forget. When scoring runs had become not an art but a storm. When a story was being written on every ball and when a single ball did such a feat, which challenged all the mathematics of the game, 19 runs on one ball! A record which was repeated again in the Caribbean League a few months ago.

This was the same historic match in which Australia, batting first, had scored 434 runs. Captain Ricky Ponting’s explosive innings of 164 runs had already made the match one-sided but no one thought that this match was going to be the most exciting chapter in the history of cricket. This African bowler named Telemachus got his name written in history.

Story of 1 ball 21 runs

What happened in the 48th over during Australia’s innings was like touching the limits of the rules of cricket. South African fast bowler Roger Telemachus was bowling. In this over, he bowled continuous no-balls and on every no-ball, the batsmen took full advantage of the opportunity. Including sixes, fours and extra runs, a total of 19 runs were scored on a single ball. This was a moment which surprised the audience and forced the cricket lovers to think that how can so many runs be scored on one ball. This incident proved that nothing is impossible in cricket. This over showed how a small mistake, a no-ball, can change the course of the match. At that time, perhaps no one would have thought that this match would later become the biggest run-chase in history.

Herschell Gibbs hid the sin of Telemachus

When South Africa came out to bat, the target was like a mountain of 435 runs but South Africa converted this challenge into an opportunity. Herschelle Gibbs’s stormy innings of 175 runs and Mark Boucher’s decisive run in the last moments made this match immortal. South Africa created history by scoring 438 runs, the most successful run-chase in ODI cricket. This match was not just a game of runs, but it was a story of the spirit and passion that makes cricket special. A huge score of 434 on one side, an impossible target of 438 on the other side, and 19 runs on one ball in between, all this together makes this match “The Greatest ODI Ever”.