At 84/7 on a slow track in Port Elizabeth, it didn't look like Australia were going to go a lot further. But with ODI cricket's best finisher at the time Michael Bevan at one end, there was a ray of hope if the tailenders stuck around - which Andy Bichel did with a record-breaking knock.
It was the Super Six stage of the 2003 World Cup, where eventual winners Australia were taking on their trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand. After Kiwi skipper Stephen Fleming won the toss and invited his counterpart Ricky Ponting to bat first, Black Caps pacer Shane Bond ripped into the Australian top order.
Australia were 84/7 with Bevan the last recognised batsman in the middle. Out came Bichel, who was playing the World Cup as a backup pacer for Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie to help Bevan in the recovery business.
It required Bichel's best ODI innings and a 97-run partnership with Bevan for the eighth wicket to take Australia to a defendable total of 208/9. Bichel's knock of 64 from 83 balls included seven fours and a six off Andre Adams and is the highest score in the tournament's history by a batsman coming in at number nine.
Bevan scored an important 56 off 94 deliveries before being the eighth batsman to depart. Paceman Brett Lee also chipped in with 15 off 6 deliveries including a couple of hits over the boundary ropes.
The chase started with Daniel Vettori and Stephen Fleming opening for the Kiwis, but the stand didn't last long as Aussie legend Glenn McGrath knocked off the top order reducing them to 33/3. Fleming was the lone contributor scoring 48 runs before Brett Lee destroyed the Kiwi innings by grabbing five wickets for three runs.
The Kiwis were bowled out for 112, their lowest in World Cup history, handing Australia a 96-run victory. Bond won the Man of the Match for his figures of 6/23 in a losing cause, but it was Bichel's innings that changed the course of the game.
Though a backup, Bichel ended up playing a decisive role in the winning campaign, including a spell of 7/20 against England, and finished with 16 wickets in the tournament.