• The proverbial giant of the Aussie team, Andrew Symonds is the lynchpin that the world champs have desperately missed of late. Certainly during those last two ODI series loses to England and New Zealand. • A more than handy bowler when he is firing down those off breaks, a livewire on the field with the palm size of a marsupial pouch. • A quintessential modern-day creature—an unabashed hitter of the cricket ball. The brute power that he brings to the cricket ground has seldom been witnessed before. He announced his arrival at 20, when he scythed 16 sixes on first class debut, against Glamorgan at Abergavenny, 20 for the match. • The first five years of his ODI carrier brought a wonder concoction of joy and frustration for his fans. Remained in and out of the one-day side as he frittered away golden opportunities galore. • But that one knock against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup where he conjured a masterly 143 not out in 125 balls changed it all. Until that day, he had mustered just 762 one-day runs at only 23; ever since he has averaged more than 45 and become a hero to the masses. • Skipper Ponting calls him the most valuable player of his side, and his figures in 2005-06 where he pounded three hundreds and took 21 wickets justify the skipper’s faith• His impact on the limited-overs outfit was shown this summer after he ripped the tendon from his arm playing a fierce drive and the team struggled to its worst losing streak in a decade. The big matchEven as the World Cup was being rocked by off-cricket issues like the murder of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer, and with the Indian match-up with Sri Lanka, at St Kitts, there were quiet preparations for another major encounter: South Africa vs Australia.The two have played each other 65 times in ODIs, Australia having won 33 times, SA 28 times with three tied. They are evenly matched in World Cups, having played three, winning one each and one tied. A glance at some other figures:HIGHEST INNINGS TOTALSAustralia: 434-4 in 50 overs (Johannesburg, 12/03/06)South Africa: 438-9 in 49.5 overs (Johannesburg,12/03/06LOWEST INNINGS TOTALSAustralia: 93 in 34.3 overs (Cape Town, 3/3/06)South Africa: 69 in 28 overs (Sydney, 14/12/93)HIGHEST MATCH AGGREGATE872 runs for 13 wkts in 99.5 overs (Johannesburg,12/03/06)LOWEST MATCH AGGREGATE241 runs for 19 wickets in 78 overs (Sydney, 14/12/93)HIGHEST INDIVIDUAL SCORESAustralia: 164 Ricky Ponting (Johannesburg, 12/3/06)South Africa: 175 Herschelle Gibbs (Johannesburg 12/3/06)BEST BOWLING PERFORMANCESAustralia: 5/19 Andy Bichel (Sydney, 22/2/02)South Africa: 6/22 Makhaya Ntini (Cape Town, 3/3/06)HIGHEST MARGINS OF VICTORYAustralia: 103 runs (Sydney, 14/12/93); 8 wkts (Sydney, 22/1/02); 8 wkts (Durban, 3/4/02)South Africa : 196 runs (Cape Town, 3/3/06); 9 wkts (Sydney, 26/2/92)NARROWEST MARGINS OF VICTORYAustralia: 1 run (Bloemfontein, 8/4/94); 1 wkt (Durban, 10/3/06)South Africa : 5 runs (Johannesburag, 19/2/94); 1 wkt (Johannesburg, 12/3/06)
