Lee heroics give win to Australia - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Lee heroics give win to Australia

By Michael Donaldson 23/01/2004 06:13:11 AM Comments (0)

Maligned with the ball this summer, Brett Lee's last over heroics with the bat carried Australia to an unlikely victory over India in the tri-series one-day cricket match at the SCG.

Just days after being spanked for 83 runs off 10 overs in Brisbane, Lee gained his revenge over India as he and Andy Bichel scored 11 runs off the last over to win with one ball to spare.

Australia, chasing a revised score of 225 in 34 overs, needed nine runs off the last four balls to be bowled by Lakshmipathy Balaji.

Lee, after stealing two runs off a misfield, smashed a six over extra cover and then sprinted the winning single on another misfield.

He finished with 12 runs off nine balls and the twist of fate wasn't lost on Indian captain Sourav Ganguly.

"This game is a great leveller - Brett Lee had a poor game in Brisbane with the ball and he won the game here with the bat," Ganguly said.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting felt Australia let a sure win slip away before Lee snatched it back at the death.

"Things got a bit closer than we would have liked. We kept losing wickets at crucial stages and kept sneaking behind the run-rate," Ponting said.

"But I don't mind having Brett on strike needing a six off the last over because he's a very good six-hitting, boundary hitter - he just got one in the slot and put it over the rope."

The win, which looked impossible when Yuvraj Singh made 139 off 122 balls to lead India to 4-296 in its innings, became possible thanks to a blistering start and a rain delay.

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