On this day in 2006: Andrew Hall bowls a maiden in the last over of an ODI

White-ball cricket is known to be dominated by batters with many odds being against the bowlers. The boundaries are shorter in comparison to Test matches and maximum games are taking place in batting friendly-tracks. Moreover, the brilliant quality of bats nowadays means bowlers have a minimal margin of error. With so many challenges being in front, dot deliveries in slog overs are considered as gold dust.

In fact, bowling the last over of an innings is probably the sternest challenge for bowlers in white-ball cricket. The task becomes even more daunting if a bowler has a target to defend. However, former South African pacer Andrew Hall embraced this challenge brilliantly in an ODI against Sri Lanka and bowled arguably the best last over of an ODI match.

When Andrew Halls’ sensational last over left Sri Lanka stunned!

In fact, Hall’s heroics came on this very day (January 24) in 2006. It was a triangular series involving Australia, Sri Lanka, and South Africa. The sixth game took place in Adelaide and the Proteas side asked the Lankan Lions to chase down 264 in Adelaide. The equation came down to Sri Lanka needing 11 runs off the last over.

The Lankans had two wickets in hand with Tillakaratne Dilshan and Muttiah Muralitharan being in the middle. While South Africa did look in the driver’s seat, Hall’s stellar show was certainly not on the cards. Muralitharan was the batter on the strike and Hall managed two dot deliveries on the trot. While the former Sri Lankan off-spinner also missed the third delivery, he got a run via a leg bye.

Notably, there was still no run with the bat in the over. The equation reduced to Sri Lanka needing 10 off three balls but Dilshan, who was batting on 82, was on the strike. Contrary to the expectations, Hall didn’t allow the dasher to open his arms as no run was scored in the final three balls. Hence, Hall bowled a historic maiden as South Africa won that contest by nine runs.