Sensational sporting finishes
Recalled by Tony Matthews
Every so often we hear of a terrific end to a sporting event – a last minute goal in football, the taking of a wicket or the scoring of a run with the last ball of a cricket match, a late penalty or try in rugby, a vital putt on the final day of a golf tournament, a dramatic photo-finish to a 100m sprint, the sinking of the last red or black ball in snooker… and so on and so forth.
Here are some dramatic endings that have happened down the years…
■ In April 2016, the West Indies needed 19 off the very last over of the T20 cricket World Cup final in Kolkata to beat England! Chasing 156 to win, the Windies were on 137-6 when Ben Stokes stepped forward to bowl the 40th and final over the match to Carlos Brathwaite who, swinging his bat to perfection, amazingly hit each of Stokes’ first four balls for six to win his country the trophy in amazing style.
■ Time was virtually up as the fourth official held up the board showing how much added time would be played at the end of the Champions League final in Barcelona’s Nou Camp Stadium in May 1999. At this juncture Bayern Munich were leading Manchester United 1-0 thanks to a 6th minute Basler goal, and the
German fans in the 90,245 crowd were already celebrating victory. But then, in the space of 145 seconds, both United’s substitutes, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, scored following David Beckham corners to seal a memorable victory for Alex Ferguson’s team.
■ With the scores level at 17-all and with just 26 seconds remaining of the Rugby World Cup final in Sydney, England’s Jonny Wilkinson kicked a dramatic dropped goal to give his side a 20-17 points victory to stun the hosts Australia. This has to be one of those never-tobe-forgotten sporting moments in my lifetime.
■ With what proved to be his last stroke of the evening (early morning in fact), Dennis Taylor potted the black to beat the holder and three-time winner Steve Davis 18 frames to 17 in the 1985 World snooker championship final at the Crucible in Sheffield. The final in April, was watched by over 18.5 million TV viewers, the highest viewed programme in the UK at that time.
■ In a One Day cricket International in Barbados in January 2020, Ireland posted 237-9 off their 50 overs. In replay the West Indies scored 242-9 with Sheldon Cottrell hitting a huge six off the penultimate of the final over to win the match for the Windies.
■ And of course also in cricket, we simply can’t – and won’t – ever forget England’s last ball ‘super over’ World Cup final victory over New Zealand at Lords twelve months ago. All cricketer lovers know the facts – but oh my God, the joy on wicket-keeper Jos Buttler’s face when he whipped off the bails to run out Martin Guptill will remain forever in the minds of everyone who saw the action… it was shear delight.