5 Last over ODI thrillers between India and Australia

The much-awaited ODI series between India and Australia will commence on September 17 and is expected to be another run-fest like in 2013. The Test series played earlier this year was fiercely competitive with players from both teams throwing verbal volleys at each other as well. The limited-overs series will also be no different as both teams are expected to produce some memorable contests for the spectators.

When these two teams lock horns it generates more fan following than most other bilateral cricket series around the world. The frequency of the bilateral series between India and Australia has also increased in the past decade which has produced mouth-watering contests. There have been a lot of last over heart throbbing finishes in ODIs between the Men in Blue and the Aussies. Here we list the top 5 last over ODI thrillers between the fantastic foes:

1. March 4, 2008, Brisbane, CB Series: India won by 9 runs

In the second final of the Tri-series, India elected to bat first at the Gabba in Brisbane and posted a competitive 258/9 courtesy the 91-run knock Sachin Tendulkar played. The master blaster had scored a century in the first final and backed it up with another superlative knock when others struggled to make a mark. In reply, the hosts were reduced to 32/3 within the first 10 overs. But Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds consolidated the innings with an 89-run stand. Then Michael Hussey and James Hopes took over from where they left and made sure they were in the game right until the end.

Australia needed 13 runs off the last over and Hopes was the only recognised batsman left with 8 wickets down. MS Dhoni handed over the ball to the left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan as the history beckoned for the Men in Blue. He didn’t disappoint his skipper and scalped Nathan Bracken with a beautiful slower delivery to leave the Aussies 9 down. Hopes came back on strike and ran two most precious runs of his life to bring the equation down to 10 from 3 deliveries. But it was Irfan and India who had the last laugh as the batsman drove the next delivery straight to Piyush Chawla who held his nerve and Team India won the ODI series in Australia for the first time in 23 years.