'Come on gibbsy, hit me in front of square' - Herschelle Gibbs remembers his famous Sharjah battle against Shoaib Akhtar

The gentleman’s game, over the years, has dished out many exciting battles between batsmen and bowlers. Along with memorable matches, fans have also witnessed many remarkable battles between a batsman and a bowler. One such encounter, which hogged the limelight at that time, was the battle between Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar and South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs.

The incident took place in Sharjah when Pakistan locked horns with the Proteas in the sixth ODI of a tri-series. The match was a low-scoring thriller where the Men in Green emerged victorious by 67 runs. ‘Rawalpindi Express‘ Shoaib Akhtar wreaked havoc on the South African batting force as he registered the figures of 3/9 and steered Pakistan to the victory.

The lone warrior for South Africa in that match was Herschelle Gibbs, who remained unbeaten on 59 from 79 balls. One interesting fact about the match was that Pakistan bowled out South Africa without dismissing any of their openers. Gibbs remained unbeaten while his partner, Gary Kirsten, got retired hurt earlier in the innings.

‘One spell from Shoaib Akhtar did the damage’: Herschelle Gibbs

Gibbs, while recollecting memories from that match, tweeted how Akhtar did the damage and emerged as a roadblock in South Africa’s victory. Gibbs tweeted, “One @shoaib100mph spell did the damage!”

Akhtar, continuing the conversation, reminded Gibbs that it was only his one over which dismantled South African batting force. The pacer dismissed Mark Boucher, Dale Benkenstein and Lance Klusener in the 17th over, which led to their batting collapse.

“Do you remember how hot it was @hershybru? It wasn’t even a spell, it was one over. Lol. In such weather conditions, I was always in a hurry,” Akhtar hit back at Gibbs.

Gibbs replied to Akhtar’s tweet and revealed how the Pakistan speedster sledged him by asking him to hit in front of square. Gibbs, on a lighter note, said to Akhtar that he eventually ran out of partners during the course of play.

‘You brought the heat brotherman! All you chirped was ‘cmon gibbsy hit me in front of square’ but I ran out of partners which didn’t help,” responded Gibbs.

Akhtar also reminisced the moment and hoped that everything is well amid the stern situation through which the world is currently going. “Good times man! I hope is all is well in these crazy times we are living in now,” tweeted Akhtar.