Cricket’s greatest comebacks – India vs South Africa, 2002 Champions Trophy

India made a memorable comeback against South Africa in 2002 Champions Trophy

The saying that “No match is ever lost until it is won”, is very apt in cricket where the teams have made many comebacks to win from losing positions.

Conversely, there have been cases where teams have lost a match from a seemingly certain winning positions. If we were to compile a list of the instances of the latter, it’ll probably surprise no one to see the South African team feature regularly in it.

One such example of their much talked about habit of “choking” was the 2002 Champions Trophy semifinal played between South Africa and India, where the Proteas totally lost the plot after almost having the game in the bag.

Sourav Ganguly won the toss and elected to bat first. After an aggressive start from Virender Sehwag, India kept losing wickets at regular intervals and found themselves at 135/4. A dogged partnership between Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh helped India to a fighting score of 261/9 in their 50 overs.

South Africa lost Graeme Smith early in the chase, and Jacques Kallis joined Herschelle Gibbs at the crease. The two kept the scoreboard ticking at a good rate. Continuing his good form, Gibbs brought up his 2nd consecutive ODI century.

Herschelle Gibbs scored his 2nd consecutive century of the tournament

At 192/1 off 37 overs with Gibbs and Kallis well set, South Africa were cruising and some talk had begun of the Proteas’ prospects in the final. With only 70 runs required from 13 overs and 9 wickets intact, a comfortable win for them seemed just a matter of time.

India needed an intervention from providence for something to happen. And probably that’s what occurred. Gibbs suffered a severe bout of cramps, which forced him to retire hurt.