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Journalism of Courage
To keep the grouchy crowds interested during the rain-break at the MCG,the harnessed giant screens crackled to life with reels of what every cricket fan in Australia reckons to be the greatest games played in the history of one-day and World Cup cricket. The 100th over of the semi-final between Australia and the West Indies in Mohali 96 blared first,followed by the one against South Africa at Birmingham in 99.
While the public cheered,one man wasnt so ecstatic. It was funny,because had Damien Fleming been half as nervous during those matches as he was while watching it,Australia would have probably ended up on the losing side on both occasions.
It frightens me everytime I watch it, he says. It also frightens me that it was me who bowled both those overs to Richie Richardson and Lance Klusener. I still cannot figure out how I did it and ended up on the winning side. Neither can the masses,considering both Richardson and Klusener smashed his first ball of both his final overs for boundaries.
I still remember Mohali like it was yesterday, he says,and how could he not. With West Indies chasing just 208 for a place in the final,Fleming was asked to bowl the last over. The WI skipper didnt make it easy by reducing the target to six off five within one ball.
I couldnt believe that I had the opportunity to bowl the last over of a World Cup semi-final. And then Richie hit me for four. I needed to prove I was worth the moment. I bowled a yorker to Richie and Curtly Ambrose was run out trying to get on strike. And as Courtney Walsh walked in,we felt we could win. I cleaned up Walsh and Jeez,we were in the World Cup final.
That was lost to Sri Lanka,but Fleming still considered himself to be part of something special. We thought a match like Mohali wouldnt occur in another 200 years. But it did,faster than any of us would have wanted. At the same stage,three years later in England,Fleming bowled the last over of what is widely considered the greatest ODI ever played.
With nine to win for South Africa and hot as potatoes Lance Klusener on strike,Steve Waugh chucked the ball to the only man he trusted in the situation. Fleming repayed him by getting smashed for what he calls the two hardest strikes ever hit in the game of cricket.
When it was one to win off four,Fleming says an interesting incident occurred on the field. I told Tugga that I wanted to come over the wicket to change the line and bowl a yorker. But Steve didnt even look at me. He said Yeah,whatever. The captain knew that the ship had already sunk, reckons Fleming. The pacer did so eventually,and the rest as he says is bizarre history.
I had to relay Mark Waughs throw to the keeper. The ball rolled at a mile per hour and reached after what felt like four hours. But it was worth the wait. Allan Donald was run-out,Australia made it to the final,Fleming won his only World Cup medal and retired a couple of years later.
