So that's the end of that, a stunning and frankly baffling contest comes to an end. I'm not sure West Indies will ever quite come to terms with how they lost that. And I cannot imagine that Australia will ever encounter a more tense finale to a World Cup semi-final. So much at stake, and the men in yellow held firm when in mattered.
They march on to Lahore, where the extraordinary Sri Lankans lie in wait for what promises to be another historic occasion. But that's one for another night. From myself, Andrew Miller, Sid Monga, and the rest of the #RetroLive team, thanks for joining us, and goodnight!
Cronje Fan: "What a thrilling semi-final this is! Difficult to imagine this being topped - given the stature of the teams, and the occasion. "
Lehar Jain: "I think the tie rule should be scrapped as it can be harsh on the losing team. Instead, they should bring something like 1 over eliminator to get the result in case of a tie."
***
And finally, the Man of the Match. A trophy will be presented by the Governor of the Punjab, and a cheque for £2000 from the director of Wills. And unsurprisingly, for his alchemic tendencies in the tight final throes of the contest, the award goes to Shane Warne.
"I don't think I was too calm out there, but I got a bit lucky, the ball went where I wanted it to go, and we pulled off a good victory. I got a couple of flippers on line for the first time this tournament, so I was pretty happy with them. It was a little bit slow, one would go through and the next would stop so that helps you. You just have to keep maintaining your line and length and keep hitting the wicket."
What were the discussions in your final over, asks Chappelli. "I dunno, I can't remember!" comes the enlightening response. No tricks of the trade being revealed on his watch …
***
Now then, he comes Mark Taylor, who might be a touch cheerier. He doesn't need a cheque to live his team's spirits.
"It was a great game, West Indies probably should have won it, they won 95% of the game, and we won the last 5%. It was very tense, semi-final of the World Cup and behind all day, but the guys hung in there to their credit, Warnie, and especially Glenn McGrath, who I think got it all started with his spell when he came back on after about 30 overs. That gave us a sniff and Warnie capped it all off with four wickets.
"I thought we fielded a lot better today, it always goes hand in hand when you bowl better. I thought we bowled a lot better today but we batted poorly, and we've got to hope we get it all right for the final."
***
Thanks Sid ... well cripes. What unbelievable drama that was.
Ian Chappell has the mic to conduct the presentations, and first up, he calls Richie Richardson to the podium to accept a runners-up cheque for £5000 - scant consolation - and to attempt to explain the extraordinary meltdown we've just witnessed. In fact, I'm not sure they can find the cheque in the melee, which seems oddly apt.
"Richie, I guess there's only one question, mate," asks Chappelli. "How. How did you lose it from there?"
"Well, it's unbelievable really. We had them 15 for 4, we relaxed a little bit, they got a very good total but I'm just really disappointed. We should have really won this match. Even though they got away and got 208 but we should have got those runs.
A bit of panic? "Yeah probably so, I was telling the guys, hit it straight, and if it's off-line you go with the swing, but it's not easy, really, in those situations, and the Australians bowled really well."
Aha, they've found the cheque at last. Though they will probably lose it again, just as they managed to lose this game twice.
***
All the Australian squad is on the field. There is no end to their joy. Richardson cuts a lonely distraught figure as he walks off into the night. West Indies had this game won three times over, but it was just one of those nights where they didn't believe they could win. The last eight wickets have gone for 37 runs. They kept sending big hitters in when they needed four an over. Australia saw that as a sign West Indies were not looking to work hard for this win. They made them work hard, and it has come off for them. Richardson himself dug the team the biggest hole by swinging for the fences; and as he kept missing, the dots kept piling and the belief kept evaporating. Try wiping those smiles off the Aussies' faces. To make sense of all this and to bring you what the captains have to say, I hand over to Andrew Miller