23 years ago, the equally talented nations fought hard on the crease, but at the end of the day, India emerged victorious against PAK on South African soil

At present, the India versus PAK rivalry may have turned into a boring rivalry, heavily dominated by the Men in Blue. However, a decade or so ago, both sides were evenly matched in terms of quality players. PAK was known for its bowling prowess, whereas India had an impeccable batting lineup. Therefore, both teams were always in contention to win a match, and nothing was decided until the last ball of the game.

One such encounter between the two sides took place on March 1, 2003, when India and PAK clashed against each other in an ICC World Cup game at the Centurion.

The Anwar Show

Batting first, PAK got off to a brilliant start with Saeed Anwar taking matters into his hands from the get-go. While wickets fell on one end, Anwar steadily marched towards a century, hitting 101 runs in 126 balls. When Anwar was sent to the dugout by Ashish Nehra, PAK had a wobble, but Younis Khan in the middle order added 32 runs, whereas in the lower order, another 29 runs came from Rashid Latif.

The team collectively scored 273 runs, setting a daunting target for the Men in Blue.

God on our side

 (Credit- News18)

For India, even though the target looked tough, the situation slowly became easy as a young Sachin Tendulkar lived up to his stature, scoring 98 runs in 75 balls at a strike rate of 130.66. The Master Blaster failed to get his 100, but he did enough damage in a few overs and gave a safe space for the remaining batters to express themselves.

"I have seen Sachin play a lot but the way he batted in that match; I have never seen him play like that before. The way he played against our fast bowlers in those conditions was superb."

Inzamam on @sachin_rt's 98 against Pakistan in World Cup, 2003pic.twitter.com/exrzUv21Qr

— Cricketopia (@CricketopiaCom) November 22, 2020

While Sourav Ganguly went for a duck and Virender Sehwag made 21, Mohammad Kaif took his time and scored 35 runs, followed by Rahul Dravid, who took his own time to add another 44 runs – crucial runs that came slowly but helped India move toward the target. Finally, a 50 from young Yuvraj Singh in 53 balls ensured India a victory by six wickets and 26 balls to spare.

(Credit- NDTV)

Sachin Tendulkar grabbed the Player of the Match award, and India moved to the Super Six stage, but PAK crashed out of the World Cup in the group stage. Eventually, the team led by Sourav Ganguly reached the final but lost to Australia – a defeat that still hurts today, given that the squad had everything to lift the trophy and yet collapsed on the day it mattered the most.