Australia8217;s Hero Number One

Shane Warne is The Man' again. With just two days before the cricket World Cup final, he has timed his renaissance to perfection. It too...

Shane Warne is The Man8217; again. With just two days before the cricket World Cup final, he has timed his renaissance to perfection. It took just 10 drama-packed overs against South Africa at Edgbaston on Thursday to transform the leg spinner from zero back to hero.

His contribution, in what was the first tie in World Cup history, was crucial in seeing his side through to the final.

Few would now bet against him featuring prominently against Pakistan at Lord8217;s on Sunday. Only last week, the talk was all about Warne being driven from the sport by relentless criticism.

Experts said he had lost it. Lost his loop, lost his spin and mislaid his flipper. Perhaps he had even lost his appetite. He looked tired and jaded and half the bowler he once was.

On Thursday, however, the 29-year-old Victorian broke South African hearts with the greatest exhibition of one-day bowling seen for years. Warne, extracting vicious turn, took three wickets in eight balls without conceding a run. His first victim, HerschelleGibbs, was removed by a delivery that spun more than a foot from outside leg to clip the top of the off stump.

Many saw it as a replica of his 1993 delivery that dismissed Mike Gatting in the Ashes series and became known as The Ball of the Century.8217; Warne, in marvellous understatement, said: 8220;I don8217;t know if it was up there with the Mike Gatting ball. I suppose it wasn8217;t a bad delivery, since Gibbs is a good player. It was a pretty good cherry.8221;

Warne, with figures of three for 14 after nine overs, ended his day8217;s work with a fourth wicket, that of Jacques Kallis. But his chef d8217;oeuvre was marginally spoiled by 15 runs and one dropped catch off his last six deliveries.

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His captain Steve Waugh said: 8220;Somebody had to produce a great spell and Warney was the man. He turned the game back in our favour.8221; It was Waugh who had earlier warned that the leg-spinner, still finding his way back from a career-saving shoulder operation last year, might turn his back on cricket after his World Cup performanceswere rubbished.

On Thursday, however, Warne did not seem to know what all the fuss was about. 8220;I had a couple of off games. Some days, it8217;s going to be a batter8217;s day. That8217;s what they are paid for. Today it was all or nothing. It just happened to be my day,8221; he said.

Warne had been given a hiding by both Zimbabwe and India earlier in the competition but his bowling at Edgbaston was top-bracket.

South Africa8217;s captain Hansie Cronje, one of his victims, said: 8220;Shane Warne stopped us in our tracks. He8217;s a good bowler. He8217;s always going to be a handful on a turning wicket.8221;