#OnThisDay in 2005, North Stand was at its ferocious best when Proteas visited to play the final ODI. Ind was trailing 5 match series at 1-2 with a match wasted. Words were spoken by Andre Nel before the match & crowd was obviously not friendly!

North Stand experience thread

Our North Stand traditionally is known as a stand where Mumbai cricket's most intellectual & fun loving fans sit. We appreciate good cricket. We strongly back home team, but also are mildly hostile towards away team. The North Stand crowd has mellowed over the years, not the roar

India were just recovering from Chappell Ganguly saga & were longing for support in a series decider against 2nd best team in the world. Ind won the toss & put SA to bat. This match also had @robbie13flair & @GautamGambhir as super subs who played in their respective innings

Ind got off to a good start with @IrfanPathan hit stumps with swing to dismiss Andrew Hall. Irfan & @harbhajan_singh ensured SA were restricted to 225, with @jacqueskallis75 scoring classical 91. North Stand was at its loudest with chants of "Bhajji bhajji" & "Aar pee Singh"

Ind started their chase of this tricky target & lost Gambhir early. @sachin_rt & @virendersehwag rebuilt innings with a quickfire 46 runs p'ship. Big screen said "Viru/Tendlya, Go after SA :D"

Sachin & Sehwag fell soon. It was on Dravid & @YUVSTRONG12 to steer the chase safely

Meanwhile Andre Nel was at the long on, taunting few kids on the boundary. Crowd lost its temper & started chanting " aee o aee o Nel is the..." Nel got angry & started crushing bottles at the boundary. He even went on to sledge the batsman, Yuvi & later Dhoni

Dravid & Yuvi stitched a p'ship of 80 to take Ind at the doorstep of a series victory. Yuvi fell to Nel & in came @msdhoni . Nel was hostile when he was bowling, crowd was even more when he fielded. Meanwhile Dravid got hit by a throw on his elbow & he was in pain

Entire 38k people inside chanted his name! It was Wankhede at its loudest best. Dravid was back on his feet. He safely took the team home with a 78*. India tied the series 2-2. Dravid walked up to North Stand & thanked the crowd. We now proudly display that on our t-shirt!

Meanwhile, Nel lost his match fee. Graeme Smith said it was the loudest stadium he had experienced so far. Yuvi & Sachin applauded home support.

This match has got a cult status in the history of North Stand.

Each of us proudly say "I was there when Dravid thanked us"

Pics courtesy Getty Images, Cricinfo and Wikipedia