AUSTRALIA, inspired by leg spinner Shane Warne, staged one of the greatest escapes in one day cricketing history to sneak past the West Indies and into the World Cup final by five runs. Mark Taylor's side, looking dead and buried at 15 for four at the start of the semifinal, somehow turned 207 for eight into a winning score as they took eight wickets for 37 runs off 51 balls for victory.
Pace bowler Damien Fleming bowled Courtney Walsh with three balls to go to spark mass celebrations. The Australians, the 1987 champions, will now take on Sri Lanka in Sunday's final in Lahore.
A stunned West Indies captain, Richie Richardson said: "It's unbelievable. We had them at 15 for four, but then they got a good total. We are so disappointed. We should have won this match."
"They probably should have won," admitted Taylor, the Australian captain. "They were ahead for 95 per cent of the game and awe won the late five per cent. It was very tense. We were behind all day. Glenn McGrath and then Shane Warne gave us a sniff."
Man of the match Warne said: "I got lucky. For the first time in the tournament I got a few flippers on line. I can't remember what we discussed at the end, it was so tense."
The West Indies, who won the trophy in 1975 and 1979, needed just 43 off 9.4 overs with eighth wickets in hand when Australia engineered their spectacular turnabout. Warne took three late wickets and finished with four for 36 as the West Indies slumped from a safe 165 for two.
Richardson, who made a defiant 49 not out, looked on helplessly as wickets tumbled at the other end in what was his final international appearance. Brian Lara cracked a run a ball 45 and Shivnarine Chanderpaul made a career best 80, but the West Indies faltered when victory appeared well within their grasp.
The West Indies had begun the match on a sensational note by removing four top Australian batsmen, including the in form Mark Waugh who went for a second ball duck to Curtly Ambrose, by the 10th over, with just 15 on the board.
Australia were saved from disaster by a defiant 138 run partnership for the fifth wicket between Stuart Law (72) and Michael Bevan (69). The pair stayed together until the 42nd over to aid Australia's last ditch recovery in which 64 runs came off the final 10 overs.
Mark Waugh had struck three centuries from his previous five innings in the tournament and was averaging 118 before yesterday's game. Ambrose's new ball partner Ian Bishop, after seeing Taylor dropped by Brian Lara at slip in his first over, forced the Australian captain to drag on for a single.
Ricky Ponting fell in the fifth over to Ambrose in a carbon copy of Waugh's dismissal, giving the 6ft 7in strike bowler 10 wickets for the tournament. Steve Waugh was next to go, again making the fatal error of playing back as Bishop clean bowled him for three as the ball continued to seam and swing dramatically.
Bevan, who survived a stumping chance against off spinner Roger Harper, and Law came together at that stage to rescue Australia with battling half centuries. The West Indies had a lucky break when Law was run out attempting a sharp single. Bevan fell two overs later when he drove Harper straight to Richie Richardson in the covers. Paul Reiffel and Ian Healy were also run out - the latter off the final delivery - to keep the West Indian target down to 4.16 runs an over.
