Watch the highlights of Australia vs England Benson & Hedges World Series Cup 2nd Final 1987 - Benson & Hedges World Series Cup one-day international tournament of the second final played between England and Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney in 11th February 1987.
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| England players celebrates after winning a match © Cricket Australia / Channel 9 |
Chris Broad and Ian Botham start as England thrilling 8-run victory over Australia, despite a fighting innings from Simon O'Donnell's 27-ball 40 and took an unbeatable 2-0 lead to clinch the title in the second best-of-three finals of a Benson and Hedges World Series Cup.
England scored 187-9 in 50 overs with top scorer by Chris Broad struck 53 off 87-balls including 3-fours.
Allan Lamb cracked a 35 off 39-balls including a boundary, Ian Botham 25, David Gower 17 and Bill Athey 15.
Australia best bowler by Peter Taylor, Greg Matthews, Simon O'Donnell each took 2-wickets and one for Steve Waugh - Simon Davis.
Australia scored 179-8 in 50 overs with top scorer by Simon O'Donnell hammered a unbeaten 40 off 27-balls including 2-fours & a six with strike rate of 148.14.
Dirk Wellham scored 30 off 51-balls including a boundary, Geoff Marsh hit 28 off 64-balls included a four, Allan Border 27 and Steve Waugh 22.
England best bowler by Ian Botham 3-26, Phil DeFreitas took 2-wickets and one for John Emburey.
Ian Botham named Player of the match for his all-round performance to captured 3 for 26-runs in 10-overs including a maiden with economy rate of 2.60 after scoring a 25 off 31-balls included 4-fours.
Viv Richards and Ian Botham each shared player of the series award, Richards contributed 266 runs with five wickets and Botham have 252 runs with seven wickets.
This match reported by Peter West (Third Party Reference from The Daily Telegraph)
INACCLAIMING England's victory over Australia by eight runs in a gut-wrenching finish, I think we should recall what the mood was on the eve of the first Test in November.
England's cricketers then looked back on three successive Test series lost, against West Indies, India and New Zealand, and not a single victory in 11 matches.
Their form leading up to the first Test inspired no confidence, to say the least. There had been no greater problem than finding a successful opening partnership.
And yet, since that stunning victory at Brisbane, England have won the Test series 2-1, retained the Ashes, won the quadranglular Perth Challenge and now, for the first time, the Benson and Hedges World Series Cup without the need of a third, decisive encounter in Melbourne.
Had England scored enough (187-9) after Gatting had opted yesterday to bat first even though the Sydney pitch is never quite predictable?
It hardly seemed so after Marsh and Border had launched Australia's reply not without a good deal of luck against Dilley and DeFreitas - with 55 for their first wicket by the 19th over. Border certainly lived dangerously.
It was Botham, with three wickets for seven runs off 27 balls and limping slightly, who turned the tide. Border, from a thin deflection, was nicely taken down the legside by French, Marsh went lbw playing across the line and Ritchie. off a ball that may have stopped a shade, was caught at midoff from the leading edge of his bat.
More crucially, perhaps, between the fall of Marsh and Ritchie, Emburey in one of his most accurate, restrictive spells pulled off yet another of his remarkable catches to get rid of the dangerous Jones.
Australia were 80 for four now, only 19 runs being added off the previous 10 overs. At this point Wellham and Waugh added 34 for their side to need another 74 off the last 10 with more batting to come. It was anybody's game.
Then another twist in the tale. Waugh was run out by a fine throw from Foster, and DeFreitas, having bowled his first six overs for nine runs, came back for his final fling to have Wellham caught in the covers and Zoehrer lbw with successive balls.
England now had seven men out for 135 and Australia were wanting 50 more off the last five
overs.
That Australia made such an exciting finish of it was due almost soley to O'Donnell, a strong and natural striker of the ball, who drove DeFreitus for two magnificent sixes.
Though losing Matthews who was run out by Small, O'Donnell brought Australia within 18 runs of victory when the last over began.
It was bowled by Foster, and was a good one, under a lot of pressure. Taylor obtained a single off the first ball. O'Donnell could manage only four twos off the last five. His brave innings of 40 not out came from 27 balls.
England relied on the side that had won the first of the final games and Australia, stiffening their batting, brought back Wellham On a grey, cool afternoon, with rain never far away, Gatting's decision to bat first may have been influenced less by what effects the weather might have in a reduced overs game, and more on what Matthews and Taylor might achieve in the second innings from the pitch that was used for the Test match.
Giving exciting impetus by Botham, who looked set to repeat his blistering performance in Melbourne, and sustained into the 33rd over by the ever reliable Broad, England's innings ran into rough seas in mid voyage and, despite a shrewdly paced effort by Lamb, never really found calmer waters.
Two brilliant Australian catches had much to do with that. Ritchie took one of them to get rid of Botham after he had savaged Davis in making 25 out of 31 for the first wicket in less than eight overs.
It had been a good enough shot by Botham, as was Broad's when O'Donnell took a second blinder, this time at midwicket, to dispose of the left-hander for 53.
As winners of the Cup. England have earned themselves more than £15,000 in prize money to bring their total from all sources to about £70.000.
There could be only one man for the Player of the Final Award. Botham's all-round contribution today, allied to his 71 in the first game as well as nine tidy overs, left him without a rival for a prize of almost £1,000, and a gold tray with goblets.
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