A Celebration of 5000 ODIs Match 6: Australia Beat India by One Run After Chennai Chase Turns Into Final-Over Agony

India needed two runs to tie when Maninder Singh faced Steve Waugh with one delivery left. Kiran More stood unbeaten at the other end, the Chennai crowd could barely process the tension, and a chase that had once appeared under control had reached its narrowest possible margin.

Waugh bowled straight. Maninder swung, missed and lost his stumps. Australia had won by one run.

The ending alone earns this match a place in A Celebration of 5000 ODIs, but the complete story carries even greater intrigue. Australia’s total had increased from 268 to 270 after a Dean Jones boundary was corrected from four to six during the innings break. India later finished on 269.

Geoff Marsh’s painstaking century, Navjot Sidhu’s five sixes, Craig McDermott’s middle-order intervention and Waugh’s final delivery produced a World Cup match in which every run acquired historical weight.

TL;DR

• Australia scored 270/6 after India chose to field in Chennai.
• Geoff Marsh made 110 from 141 balls and received the Player of the Match award.
• Kris Srikkanth scored 70 and Navjot Sidhu struck 73 during India’s chase.
• Craig McDermott took 4/56, including three wickets during a decisive middle-order spell.
• Steve Waugh bowled Maninder Singh from the penultimate delivery to complete a one-run victory.
• A Dean Jones boundary, initially recorded as four, was corrected to six during the innings break.

Australia vs India 1987 World Cup: Match Information

Detail	Information
Match	India vs Australia, third match, 1987 World Cup
Date	October 9, 1987
Venue	MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
Toss	India won the toss and fielded
Australia	270/6 in 50 overs
India	269 all out in 49.5 overs
Result	Australia won by one run
Player of the Match	Geoff Marsh, 110 from 141 balls
Top Indian performers	Navjot Sidhu 73, Kris Srikkanth 70
Leading bowler	Craig McDermott, 4/56
Final turning point	Steve Waugh bowled Maninder Singh with one ball remaining
Tournament stage	Group A
ODI number	ODI No. 453

Match details can also be checked through the official ICC cricket platform.

Complete Match Scorecard

Australia Innings: 270/6 in 50 Overs

Batter	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
David Boon	lbw b Shastri	49	68	5	0
Geoff Marsh	c Azharuddin b Prabhakar	110	141	7	1
Dean Jones	c Sidhu b Maninder Singh	39	35	2	2
Allan Border	b Binny	16	22	0	0
Tom Moody	c Kapil Dev b Prabhakar	8	13	1	0
Steve Waugh	Not out	19	17	0	0
Simon O’Donnell	Run out	7	10	0	0
Greg Dyer	Did not bat
Peter Taylor	Did not bat
Craig McDermott	Did not bat
Bruce Reid	Did not bat
Extras	18 leg byes, 2 wides, 2 no-balls	22
Total	Six wickets, 50 overs	270

India Bowling

Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Kapil Dev	10	0	41	0
Manoj Prabhakar	10	0	47	2
Roger Binny	7	0	46	1
Maninder Singh	10	0	48	1
Ravi Shastri	10	0	50	1
Mohammad Azharuddin	3	0	20	0

India Innings: 269 All Out in 49.5 Overs

Batter	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Sunil Gavaskar	c Reid b Taylor	37	32	6	1
Kris Srikkanth	lbw b Waugh	70	83	7	0
Navjot Sidhu	b McDermott	73	79	4	5
Dilip Vengsarkar	c Jones b McDermott	29	45	2	0
Mohammad Azharuddin	b McDermott	10	14	1	0
Kapil Dev	c Boon b O’Donnell	6	10	0	0
Ravi Shastri	c and b McDermott	12	11	1	0
Kiran More	Not out	12	14	2	0
Roger Binny	Run out	0	3	0	0
Manoj Prabhakar	Run out	5	7	0	0
Maninder Singh	b Waugh	4	5	0	0
Extras	2 byes, 7 leg byes, 2 wides	11
Total	All out, 49.5 overs	269

Australia Bowling

Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Craig McDermott	10	0	56	4
Bruce Reid	10	2	35	0
Simon O’Donnell	9	1	32	1
Peter Taylor	5	0	46	1
Steve Waugh	9.5	0	52	2
Allan Border	6	0	39	0

Geoff Marsh Gives Australia Its Foundation

Marsh batted through most of Australia’s innings and refused to let Chennai’s heat, spin or slow surface separate him from his method.

His 110 from 141 balls included seven fours and one six. The pace appears restrained beside modern ODI scoring, but Australia needed an anchor while adjusting to unfamiliar conditions. Marsh added 110 for the opening wicket with David Boon, who contributed 49.

Dean Jones then accelerated with 39 from 35 deliveries. Steve Waugh’s unbeaten 19 helped Australia reach 270, a strong total in the first World Cup played under the now-familiar 50-over format.

Marsh deserved the Player of the Match award because his innings gave every later Australian contribution its value.

The Boundary Correction That Became Part of the Result

Jones struck Maninder Singh toward the long boundary during his 39. The umpires initially awarded four, but Australia argued that the ball had cleared the rope.

During the innings break, the decision was corrected to six, with Indian captain Kapil Dev accepting the amendment. Australia’s score moved from 268 to 270.

The revision did not single-handedly defeat India. The chase still contained 299 legal deliveries, ten wickets and several moments India could have controlled. Yet the final margin ensured those two corrected runs would remain attached to the match forever.

Kapil’s career and sporting influence extend far beyond that painful incident, as explored in The Sports Encounter’s profile of the all-rounder who transformed Indian cricket.

Kris Srikkanth and Navjot Sidhu Put India Ahead

India began with aggression. Gavaskar made 37 from 32 balls before Srikkanth settled into a more substantial innings of 70.

Sidhu then attacked Australia’s spinners, hitting five sixes in his 73 from 79 balls. India reached 207/2 and appeared capable of controlling the remaining 64 runs.

That position made the collapse more damaging. India had wickets, established batters and a required rate within reach. Australia needed a bowler to disrupt the chase before India could coast through the final overs.

Craig McDermott Changes the Match

McDermott supplied Australia’s decisive spell.

He bowled Sidhu for 73, removed Azharuddin and then dismissed Vengsarkar, reducing India from 207/2 to 232/5. His fourth wicket came when he caught Shastri from his own bowling.

McDermott finished with 4/56. Bruce Reid went wicketless but conceded only 35 from ten overs, giving Australia the control required to survive Peter Taylor’s expensive spell.

Steve Waugh Owns the Final Delivery

India entered the final stages with More trying to guide the lower order home. Run-outs removed Binny and Prabhakar, but Maninder struck four and kept the chase alive.

Two runs were required from two balls. Waugh needed one wicket.

His straight delivery defeated Maninder and hit the stumps. Australia escaped with the smallest winning margin available in ODI cricket.

Waugh’s figures of 2/52 carried more importance than their economy rate suggests. He dismissed Srikkanth and then ended the match himself.

Why Match 6 Belongs in A Celebration of 5000 ODIs

The one-run margin supplies an obvious answer, but this match offers much more.

It featured a century, an aggressive Indian chase, a middle-order collapse, two late run-outs, a final-delivery wicket and a corrected boundary that exactly matched the eventual difference between the teams.

The result also introduced the resilience that would define Australia’s tournament. Allan Border’s side eventually lifted its first World Cup, beginning the country’s rise toward ODI dominance.

Readers can revisit India’s previous World Cup triumph through Match 5, the 1983 final against West Indies, Kapil Dev’s rescue against Zimbabwe and the chaotic 1975 World Cup final.

For more historical reports and current analysis, visit The Sports Encounter Cricket Hub.

India had controlled significant portions of the chase. Australia controlled its final delivery. In Chennai, that was enough to separate 270 from 269 and victory from one of India’s most painful World Cup defeats.