Shane Warne still rates that Gatting ball as his favourite in Test cricket despite producing another memorable delivery to dismiss arch-rival Kevin Pietersen on a frenetic final day in Adelaide on Tuesday.
Warne, who produced another Herculean effort with the ball to set up Australia's victory in the second Test, bowled Pietersen around his legs to add another chapter to the intriguing battle between the Hampshire team-mates.
One of the most eagerly anticipated battles within the Ashes, the Warne-Pietersen duel has failed to disappoint.
Tempers flared in Brisbane when Warne fired in a return off his own bowling which was flicked away in self-defence by Pietersen, who then, in no uncertain terms, told the champion leg-spinner to go away.
In Adelaide, Warne bowled a leg-side line to Pietersen on the second day, daring him to hit against the spin, but the South African-born batsman responded with a stiff upper-lip, continuously thrusting his pad forward to deny the Australian.
However, Warne responded emphatically in the second innings, bamboozling Pietersen, who he concedes has played him with relative comfort in the opening two Tests of the series.
"I don't think that was as a good a ball as the one I bowled to Mike Gatting," said Warne, who was speaking at a Lindsay Hackett Club luncheon in Melbourne on Thursday.
"I thought that was a pretty good delivery. As far as a leg-spinner goes I couldn't bowl a better one than the one I bowled to Mike Gatting."
"That one [the Pietersen ball], there was a little bit of luck. Kevin Pietersen is a class player. He's played me extremely well, full of attitude, he's a very, very good player and I'm sure if he keeps his feet on the ground that he could be one of the all-time great players."
"He's the player who has played me the best in the first two Test matches as well."
Gatting believed the pressure of the final day got to Pietersen, leading to his downfall in Adelaide.
"I don't know why Kevin decided to sweep the ball he did in the second innings because all he has to do with the reach he's got, he could have just flicked it again like he usually did through mid-wicket but obviously there's been a bit of bunny, a bit of pressure, three wickets down, it's different," he said.
"That's another great thing about Test cricket. It's always very easy first innings, flat wicket, just to do that but when there's a bit of pressure on, people do things differently."
