However, with this victory they tied with South Africa on six points at end of the Super Six round and the teams finished in second and third places, respectively, when net-run-rate was used to differentiate them.

In steaming conditions, Australia managed to put up a total of 213 with Michael Bevan and Steve Waugh scoring vital half-centuries.

Shaun Pollock and Allan Donald tore through the middle and lower order picking up 9 of the ten wickets between them.

Jonty Rhodes and Jacques Kallis then put together a vital partnership taking South Africa within 69 runs of victory.

South Africa, on the other hand, maintained their trend of choking or bad luck at the World Cup: in 1992 they had lost to England in the semi-finals when rain forced them to score 21 runs off the final ball, and in 1996 they had won all their group matches before losing to West Indies in the quarter-finals.

The trend also went on to continue, as in 2003 as hosts, a Duckworth/Lewis miscalculation meant they tied Sri Lanka in their final group game at Kingsmead when victory would have seen them advancing to the Super Six.

In 2015, they won their first knockout game against Sri Lanka and set co-host New Zealand a record World Cup knockout game chase target in their semifinal at Eden Park – and it might have been bigger had rain not shortened the South African innings – but miscues and the heroics of South African-born Grant Elliott undid them as New Zealand advanced to their first Cricket World Cup final.

[7] The twists, turns and close finish resulted in many observers regarding the match as the perfect One Day International from an entertainment perspective.