Former Australian captain Steve Waugh played his final test on this day in 2004 and bid farewell to international cricket in style. Waugh was one of the greatest cricketers to represent Australia as he led the Kangaroos to a World Cup victory in 1999 and delivered numerous match-winning performances with the bat.
Final Showdown at Sydney
It was a series decider at Sydney and the Indian captain Sourav Ganguly opted to bat first after winning the toss. The Indians started on a strong note with Virender Sehwag and Aakash Chopra laying a solid foundation as the opening pair. In the middle order, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman played memorable knocks as the former smashed an unbeaten double century whereas the latter ended up with 178 runs. Courtesy of these top-quality batting performances India posted 705 runs on the board in the first innings.
It was a challenge for Australia to overcome such a massive total but their start was pretty impressive as Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden troubled the Indian bowlers. Langer scored 117 runs and Hayden went back to the pavilion with 67 runs to his name. Australia lost a couple of wickets in quick succession and the Australian skipper Steve Waugh tried to stabilize the innings with a 40-run knock. Eventually, the Aussies scored 474 runs conceding a huge lead to India.
In Awe of Waugh
In the second innings, India consolidated their position with a further 211 runs added to the massive lead that they already had at the end of the first innings. Rahul Dravid, with his 91, and Sachin Tendulkar stayed unbeaten as India declared the innings with 211 runs on the board.
Australia had to chase 443 runs in the second innings which was a humongous total and the initial blows made it even tougher for them to win the match. When Steve Waugh walked into bat Australia had lost 4 wickets for 196 runs but the skipper was rock solid in his approach. He built a match-saving partnership with Simon Katich in the middle order and rescued Australia from a critical situation. In his last innings, Waugh scored 80 runs and played a crucial role in the draw at Sydney. It was an end to a great career that paved the way for glory and Australian domination in international cricket.