The Herald lists our top sporting matches of the year.
Match of the year:
Black Ferns Sevens 17 Australia 12 - Commonwealth Games gold medal match
Two years ago Australia's women left New Zealand broken in the Rio final. On the Gold Coast, New Zealand gained sweet revenge thanksto a stunning match-winning try from Kelly Brazier after the hooter in extra time.
Locked 12-12 at full-time – Australia's Cassie Staples inexplicably kicked the ball out thinking her side had nailed their final conversion to win it.
They came in their thousands to Eden Park, braved the heavy rain which began halfway through the first half, and were rewarded with an extra-time classic – Auckland winning their first national provincial title since 2007 at the end of an extraordinary 100-minute match.
This Mitre 10 Cup premiership final, enjoyed to the fullest by a crowd of 20,130 who took advantage of the free entry, was in danger of being a procession as Canterbury had seemingly grabbed Auckland by the scruff of the neck in the first half.
That Auckland turned it around was a credit to their resilience, composure and defence. Canterbury, targeting their 10th title win in 11 years, played their part too but they couldn't crack the blue and whites when it mattered and the emotional celebrations when the final whistle finally blew showed exactly what it meant to home side.
Black Sticks captain Stacey Michelsen, Samantha Harrison and keeper Grace O'Hanlon with a heroic effort after being injected for the shootout, proved match winners as New Zealand snuck past England in their Commonwealth Games semifinal to progress to contest gold against Australia.
Stacey Michelson celebrates her shootout-winning goal. Greg Bowker
France 4 Argentina 3 - World Cup quarter-final
Kylian Mbappe putting himself well and truly on the world stage, Angel di Maria's strike, Messi being Messi, THAT Pavan goal. Another great game in a great tournament.
Ice cool Warriors halfback Shaun Johnson, remember him?, kicked two field goals in the last three minutes to give his side a historic third straight season opening NRL win over the Raiders in Canberra.
The Warriors were down 13-6 at halftime and trailed 19-12 deep into the second half before a converted try to hooker Issac Luke saw them roar back within one point of the home side with three minutes remaining on the clock.
Johnson then stepped up to deliver twice for his side with replica field goals stealing victory from the jaws of defeat and giving the visitors three wins to start a campaign for the first time in the club's history.
Shaun Johnson kicks the winning field goal. Photo / Photosport
Black Caps beat Pakistan by four runs - first cricket test
Dead and buried against Pakistan, New Zealand fought valiantly to summon one of the greatest comebacks in their test cricket history, turning the test on its head to claim a famous four-run triumph.
It was a game that they had absolutely no right to win. Chasing 176, Pakistan were cruising at 130-3, with Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali having added 82 to put their side on the cusp of victory. The hosts then produced a stunning collapse – capitulating to be all out for 171 as the Black Caps walked away with their narrowest test win of all time.
Black Caps spin bowler Ajaz Patel. Photo / Photosport
Belgium 3 Japan 2 - World Cup second round
Belgium and Japan served up an absolute World Cup classic, the third-ranked Europeans fighting back from 2-0 down with less than a quarter of the match remaining to win 3-2 with the last kick of the game.
With the clock ticking towards 94 minutes and limbs aching, Belgium broke downfield one last time, kept their heads and set up substitute Nacer Chadli to guide home the winner.
Japan's Shinji Kagawa lies on the pitch at the end of the round of 16 match between Belgium and Japan. Photo / AP
World Surf League Founder's Cup
In inland California, five teams each made up of five of the world's best surfers competed in the first professional contest at a wave pool.
Surfing at Kelly Slater's Surf Ranch in Lemoore, teams from Australia, Brazil, America, Europe and the rest of the World battled to take out the first ever Founder's Cup. There was particular interest for Kiwis, with Paige Hareb suiting up for the World team.
Over two days of perfect waves with hollow barrels and sloping walls, the American and Brazilian teams impressed as expected and cruised into the final. Australia, the other heavyweight team, received a shock when they were forced into a surf-off for the last spot in the finals against Team World.
Hareb, along with captain Jordy Smith, took to the wave for Team World in the surf-off and claimed the upset to make it to the finals.
They didn't stop there. Hareb's sizzling form from the competition carried over to the final day of competition, and the Kiwi led her team to an historic victory.
Another great escape. The All Blacks, very ordinary for large periods, looked dead. Down 30-13 in the final quarter, the inspired Springboks were in total control.
Three second half tries to Aaron Smith, Rieko Ioane and Scott Barrett got them within touching distance of the seemingly unthinkable. Richie Mo'unga, who moments earlier got a favourable bounce with his penalty kick landing five metres out from the Boks line, then stepped up to nail the match-winning conversion. Cool as ice.
The All Blacks celebrate a late win over South Africa. Photo / Getty
England 52 Australia 51 - Netball Commonwealth Games gold medal match
Having staged a dramatic comeback to beat Jamaica in the semifinals, England proved to be the spoilers on the Gold Coast denying Australia a home gold. Helen Housby scored the match-winning goal in the final second to overcome a four-point deficit in the final quarter.
England celebrate at fulltime after winning Commonwealth Games gold. Photo /Getty
LA Dodgers 3 Boston Red Sox 2 (18 innings) - World Series game three
Max Muncy's home run leading off the bottom of the 18th inning finally ended the longest World Series game in history. Muncy homered to left-center on a full-count pitch from Nathan Eovaldi, jolting the remaining fans to their feet at 12:30 a.m. A grinning Muncy tossed his helmet aside as he headed for third in the final scene of a pivotal game that lasted 7 hours, 20 minutes.
The battle of attrition had a bit of everything: 46 players, including 18 pitchers, and 561 pitches. Never before had a Series game gone more than 14 innings.
The hosts chased a record 336 in the seventh ODI at the ground to win by five wickets with three balls to spare. A day shy of his 34th birthday, Taylor eclipsed his career-best 131 not out made against Pakistan during the 2011 World Cup in Sri Lanka. Taylor came to the wicket in a crisis at 2-2 in the third over and finished with an ODI career best 181 not out off 147 balls - the highest score at the ground.
As thrilling as a test cricket draw can get. Ish Sodhi produced a sterling defensive effort to hold New Zealand's tail together over 3h 20 min to ensure a draw against England at Hagley Oval.
By the end he was unbeaten on 56, his third test half century and New Zealand had battled their way to 256 for eight, nowhere near the target of 382 to win the match and make it a 2-0 sweep, but had prevented England getting up to square the series.
They gave one of the great defensive performances of the age and their ability to hang on for the final 20 minutes was sensational.
The tension was unbearable, the Boks gripping on and the All Blacks playing all the rugby and yet not quite able to finish the many half chances they created. In the last play of the game the All Blacks could still and should have won it but Damian McKenzie let go of the ball.
England 1 Colombia 1 (England win shootout) - World Cup second round
England finally won a shootout. But only after Colombia sent the game into extra-time with a goal in the final stages of the second half. A tense game for England fans who finally got to enjoy the ending of a shootout.
Jordan Pickford makes a save during England's penalty shootout victory over Colombia. Getty Images
Rafael Nadal v Dominic Thiem - US Open quarter-final
Rafael Nadal, the defending champion and No. 1 seed at Flushing Meadows, recovered from a disastrous start and other stumbles along the way to beat No. 9 Dominic Thiem 0-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5) for a semifinal berth, winning a physical, back-and-forth tussle that stretched across and concluded after 2 a.m local time.
How tense and tight was this one? Not only was Nadal two points from losing at 5-all in the closing tiebreaker, but he finished with fewer total points, 171-166.
