Herschelle Gibbs to auction his bat from historic South Africa vs Australia, Johannesburg ODI to raise funds for COVID-19 relief

Former South African batsman Herschelle Gibbs has decided to donate the iconic bat from the historic match between South Africa and Australia which was played at The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg in the year 2006. The match is regarded as one of the best of all-times due to the number of runs scored by both the sides (434 by Australia, 438 by South Africa). Gibbs, who was adjudged Man of the Match for his blistering 175 off 111 laced with 21 boundaries and seven sixes, has decided to auction his bat used in that match in a bid to raise funds for the battle against COVID-19 pandemic.

“Supersport showing the #438 game. The bat I used that day will be up for auction to raise funds for covid. Kept it all these years,” Gibbs tweeted on Friday.

The Johannesburg ODI between South Africa and Australia, also the last match of the five-match ODI series, was a perfect example of a humdinger.

Batting first, Aussie batsmen smoked Proteas bowling attack all over the park to register a world-record score of 434-4 in 50 overs with Ricky Ponting hammering 164 runs. The likes of Michael Hussey (81 off 51), Simon Katich (79 off 90), Adam Gilchrist (55 off 44) and Andrew Symonds (27* off 13) made a mockery out of the South African bowling attack to post a mountainous total on the board.

South Africa, while chasing 435, lost opener Boeta Dippenaar (1) for cheap and when it looked like things were grim for the hosts, Gibbs and Graeme Smith took the charge in the middle and whacked a quality bowling attack of Australia. While Gibbs went on to score 175, Smith smashed a 55-ball 90 followed by Mark Boucher’s 50 not out off 43. It was Boucher who scored a boundary off Lee in the second-last delivery of the final over to register the memorable win. But it was Gibbs, who did the heavy lifting.