After Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bat on a sleeping beauty in Centurion, it fell upon Adam Gilchrist to grab the early initiative. This the 31-year-old left-hander did by smashing 50 from just 45 balls before a laser-like direct hit from Chaminda Vaas, running in from the boundary, saw him fall one run short of a ninth ODI ton. He, incidentally, was the first batsman to suffer the unfortunate fate in a World Cup match.