Who would have predicted that: All-rounder Andy Bichel delivers dream performance against England at 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup

In our feature series - Who would have predicted that? – we are looking back at matches where there were big upsets or extraordinary individual performances that turned matches on their head.

Andy Bichel will walk into the Australian XI of today and possibly all contemporary teams but such was the strength of the Australian side during the early 2000s that even a player of Bichel's calibre could get only 19 Tests and 67 ODIs under his belt.

Match Summary

England 204/8 (50 overs) - Alec Stewart 46 (92), Andrew Flintoff45 (80); Andy Bichel 7/20(10), Glenn McGrath1/41(9)

Australia 208/8 (49.4 overs) - Michael Bevan 74* (126), Darren Lehmann 37 (62), Andy Bichel 34* (36) ; Andy Caddick 4/35 (9), Ashley Giles 2/42 (10)

Result - Australia won by 2 wickets (with 2 balls remaining)

Bichel (7/20 and 34* off 36 balls) had his moment under the sun in the 2003 World Cup and won Australia a crucial game. England had to win the 37th match of the 2003 World Cup at all costs to qualify for the Super Sixes. And, for the majority of the match, they looked like doing it, but one man changed the course the game in both the innings.

Marcus Trescothick had been in terrible form in the tournament but started striking the ball well and stitched a good-looking 66-run partnership with Nick Knight. Both Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath were wayward and expensive.

When introduced into the attack, Bichel dismissed Knight in his first over and accounted for the wicket of Michael Vaughan with a thin edge. Five balls later, Nasser Hussain's woodwork was disturbed. Alex Stewart and Andrew Flintoff then had a good partnership and tried to launch towards the end but Bichel proved too good for them too and restricted Australia to 204.

Fall of wickets: 1-66 (Nick Knight, 9.5 ov), 2-72 (Michael Vaughan, 11.1 ov), 3-74 (Nasser Hussain, 11.6 ov), 4-74 (Marcus Trescothick, 12.2 ov), 5-87 (Paul Collingwood, 17.5 ov), 6-177 (Andrew Flintoff, 42.3 ov), 7-180 (Alec Stewart, 44.2 ov), 8-187 (Ashley Giles, 46.1 ov)

In the chase, when Adam Gilchrist got the Aussies off with a few characteristics boundaries, it seemed that Australia would do it in a canter but 4 wickets by Andrew Caddick left Australia struggling.

With 14 runs to get off the last 12 deliveries, Bichel hit James Anderson for a six and a four off back to back deliveries. He then crashed Flintoff for a boundary on the second last ball of the match in a memorable performance.

Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Matthew Hayden, 2.2 ov), 2-33 (Adam Gilchrist, 4.2 ov), 3-33 (Damien Martyn, 4.5 ov), 4-48 (Ricky Ponting, 8.4 ov), 5-111 (Darren Lehmann, 28.2 ov), 6-112 (Andrew Symonds, 29.5 ov), 7-114 (Brad Hogg, 31.5 ov), 8-135 (Brett Lee, 37.4 ov)

Teams

Australia - Adam Gilchrist (wk), Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting (c), Damien Martyn, Darren Lehmann, Michael Bevan, Andrew Symonds, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Andy Bichel, Glenn McGrath 

England - Marcus Trescothick, Nick Knight, Michael Vaughan, Nasser Hussain (c), Alec Stewart (wk), Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Craig White, Ashley Giles, Andy Caddick, James Anderson

Match Details

Match: AUS vs ENG, 37th Match, ICC World Cup, 2003 

Date: Sunday, March 02, 2003 

Toss: England won the toss and decided to bat 

Venue: St George's Park, Port Elizabeth 

Umpires: Aleem Dar, Russell Tiffin 

Third Umpire: David Orchard 

Match Referee: Wasim Raja 

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