The 1999 semis produced a truly mind-numbing climax

Australia's run-up to the 1999 final was far from ideal. We were mentally tired after a long, hard, bitterly fought Test series in the West Indies.

Shane Warne, who had come back to cricket after an injury break in that series, was dropped for the last game because of loss of form. I was personally not feeling too great, what with not being able to see my wife for four months when she was expecting our second child. However, we still started that tournament as joint favourites along with South Africa, and I drew confidence from our superb record in England right through the 1990s.

I remember the week ahead of the preparation quite clearly. We all were focused on winning the trophy. In fact, I suspect some of the younger guys were already making space in their photo albums for the trophy moment!

However, once the cricket began, results proved that this was clearly not the way to go about things. I realised that we were just too intense, too focused on the ends rather than the means. We were only thinking of winning matches, rather than planning on how to play them. We lost to Pakistan and New Zealand in the group stage, and it was clear that things were not working out the way we hoped they would.

Some of our new plans were flopping too. We had decided to use Glenn McGrath, who was at his peak then, as a first-change bowler. Our thinking was that in English conditions, the swing bowling of Adam Dale and Damien Fleming would be more effective when the ball was new.

Lack of rhythm

Warne was not going well either. His rhythm had deserted him in the West Indies, and he was bowling well below par at the start of the tournament.

It was at this stage that we stepped back and took stock of the situation. Clearly, many things had to change if we had to make it into that trophy photograph. For starters, we decided to relax a little. We began to concentrate on the process rather than the results. We paid more attention to the little things, and we committed ourselves to enjoying our cricket and allowing the results to take care of themselves. We also had the courage to jettison experiments that were not working.

This is easier said than done, because it is very difficult to admit to a misjudgement. Fortunately we were brave enough, and McGrath got back the new ball.

At this point, we had to win each of our next seven games to become champions. The first of these was against Bangladesh, and we finished it off in record time. Insignificant though that game may seem, it helped us feel good about ourselves, ahead of a crucial tie against India.

That game was crucial because our bowling finally came into its own. McGrath was superb in that game, as he usually is against India, and it was clear that he was happy to have the new ball back in his grasp.

The big game of the Super Six was of course the one against South Africa. They were the joint favourites, and had been going really well in the tournament.

The game saw us chasing South Africa's total of 271. We were floundering at 74 for two, when Herschelle Gibbs, one of their best fielders, grassed a catch when I was batting. I have been told that I said: "Son, you just dropped the World Cup." It's such a clever line that I rarely deny saying it.

That win was crucial not only because it gave us a semi-final berth, it also was the result that ensured a final berth, after the Australia-South Africa semi-final was a tie.

The century I scored in that game was one of my best one-day knocks, and I value it because it paved the way for our World Cup win.That semi-final had one of the most mind-numbing climaxes I have been involved in. We did not play a perfect game, and we did miss many opportunities. That said, we still thought we had the game, till Lance Klusener unleashed a murderous last-gasp onslaught.

Final over

The final over was the most frightening one I have had to captain. Needing nine to win, the first two balls had been thumped to the boundary, and only a single was required to win.

The last man Allan Donald was at the other end. I knew there was nothing to be done, and decided what will be will be. On the fourth ball, Klusener took off for a single, but Donald did not hear the call. He did not make it to the other end, and South Africa did not make it to the finals.

If we had been looking for the perfect game right through the tournament, we achieved it in the final.

We were pitted against an extremely strong Pakistan team. The Pakistanis had played spin quite well in the past, and we certainly did not expect them to capitulate the way they did before Warne.

However, he was unplayable that morning, and all we had to do was keep our minds to be focused on the game rather than the result when we chased. We reached the target of 133 with about 30 overs to spare, and knew that we had played as well as we could.