Storm in a World Cup: Winning without Warne

Published January 25, 2015
Ponting and team celebrate third triumph
Ponting and team celebrate third triumph

For the first time since 1975, the World Cup moved to the African continent and was staged largely in South Africa, with two games in Kenya and the Zimbabweans playing their games on home turf. This was also the tournament where the International Cricket Council (ICC) took full control of the global event and became the official organisers, bringing in long-term sponsors and laying down the law for ambush marketing. This meant that spectators would be frisked at entry points on stadiums to make sure they were not bringing in any item that belonged to the rival company of the tournament sponsors.

The ICC expanded the teams to 14 for this event and the number of matches went to 54 from 42 as the purists again cried that there was too much cricket that was not of World Cup quality. But the fact that Kenya went almost all the way made up for insipid efforts from the three other non-Test sides who were picked as they finished in the top three of the ICC Trophy, a qualifying event. They were Netherlands and Namibia (the two finalists) along with Canada, who finished third.

The ICC decided to stick to the 1999 format, hoping that the lacuna that could push forward a non-Test team into the last four would not be taken advantage of. They were wrong. In fact this time the rule that you could carry forward the points from the group stage if the team you beat also qualified allowed Kenya a semi-final spot, which Zimbabwe (though a Test side then but lowly ranked) had missed by a whisker in 1999. Ironically, their win over Zimbabwe in the Super Six propelled them into the semi-finals, where they lost to India.


In Proteas territory, the Kangaroos retain their crown


Nevertheless, Kenya played superbly and beat Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the group games and then gained another four points when New Zealand refused to travel to Nairobi out of security fears to play their match. As in 1996, when West Indies and Australia had refused to play in Sri Lanka, politics had come into play as England also refused to visit Zimbabwe, not only because of their government having an embargo in place against Mugabe’s regime but also because the England Cricket Board received threats against the English players, something that was never verified as being genuine.

The cricket itself was entertaining when it came to top teams playing against each other, even though there were some one-sided games. But it was against the Associates or lower ranked sides that many records were created. Canada was shot out for 36 by Sri Lanka, and when the Lankans knocked off the runs in a jiffy, the match qualified as the shortest ever ODI with 23.2 overs bowled. Then Australia’s McGrath took 7-15 against Namibia, and in the game against Bangladesh, Chaminda Vaas of Sri Lanka took a hat-trick with the first three balls of the match.

Pakistan captain Waqar Younis and Indian captain Sourav Ganguly before their first match at the 2003 Cup
Pakistan captain Waqar Younis and Indian captain Sourav Ganguly before their first match at the 2003 Cup

There were some sensational encounters among the top teams and the game against South Africa and Sri Lanka stood out. The hosts needed to win to qualify for the Super Six, and were chasing a Duckworth-Lewis score of 229 in a rain reduced match. South Africa found it difficult going until Mark Boucher got them into a winning position by hitting a six off the penultimate ball of the 45th over to take South Africa to 229. A message went out for Boucher to block the next ball, as a wicket would have meant a reduction in score. It was raining heavily by then and it was clear the players would come off after that ball. It was only when the batsmen got back did it dawn on the South African management that the score of 229 had to be crossed for South Africa to win, not equalled. The match was declared a tie as rain washed out the evening and South Africa were eliminated in the most dramatic fashion.


As in 1996, when West Indies and Australia had refused to play in Sri Lanka, politics had come into play as England also refused to visit Zimbabwe


Pakistan especially suffered in this World Cup despite having more or less the same side that had reached the 1999 final. They failed to qualify beyond the group stage. Pakistan were led this time by Waqar Younis but he had a terrible time leading the side. There was some controversy in his appointment as captain for the World Cup. Though he had led the side for the last 18 months, the tour to South Africa before the World Cup had been acrimonious and on the way back, Wasim Akram had been reported in an interview at the airport that he had been asked if he would take over for the World Cup.

All hell broke loose and the PCB, under then chairman Tauqir Zia, rushed to allay any such move. It was said that a slip of the tongue had in fact turned back the decision, and that there were indeed plans to bring back Wasim Akram as captain due to Waqar not having very amiable relations with some of the top players. In the end, all that Wasim could take home was his 500th ODI wicket that came against the Netherlands.

Still, in most of their games against top sides, they managed to gain the upper hand in at least the first 25 overs of the match. They had Australia down to 80-4 and then 146-5 before ending up chasing 310. This was due to Andrew Symonds demolishing the Pakistanis with an unbeaten 143. There was controversy near the end of the Australian innings as Waqar Younis bowled two beamers at Symonds and was ordered off by the umpires. Pakistan wilted under pressure and were bowled out for 228 with no one getting beyond an individual score of 33.

Then England collapsed to 118-5 against them but after posting 246 chiseled down Pakistan. Cape Town is always dangerous for the team batting second in a day-night game and so it proved as Pakistan floundered to the swing of James Anderson. They never recovered from 17-3 as Inzamam and Yousuf went on successive deliveries. Not long after they were 80-9; Shoaib Akhtar then hitting an unbeaten 43 in 16 balls to liven up the tail in a lost cause.

Against India, Pakistan posted 273-7 with Saeed Anwar scoring a fine hundred. How much he carried the team on his shoulders could be seen by the fact that Younis Khan with 32 was the next highest scorer. Rashid Latif was in fact 29 not out after continuing to bat despite being hit on the head. He was ordered by the team doctor not to take the field and Taufeeq Umar kept wickets.

But India counter attacked through Sachin Tendulkar as he and Virender Sehwag put up 50 in the 6th over with some rasping drives and cuts, especially by the little master. Included in that surge was an unforgettable first over from Shoaib Akhtar, which Tendulkar blasted for 18, including a six over point. Pakistan managed to claw back with quick wickets of Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly by Waqar but the damage had been done and India romped home by six wickets in the 46th over on the back of Tendulkar’s 98, though it were Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh who took India home from 177-4, which still offered Pakistan hope.

India in fact made it all the way to the final mainly on Tendulkar’s batting in that tournament. He scored 673 runs though skipper Ganguly led from the front with 465. It was unfortunate that he made a bad call by opting to bowl first on a good batting track in the final which was a day game. That it was against a side that boasted of the best top four batsmen in the tournament was a blunder. And all of Adam Gilchrist, Mathew Hayden, Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn made them pay as Australia rattled up 359-2 with Ponting returning unbeaten on 140. Though Sehwag blasted 82 after Tendulkar went off the sixth ball, India were shot out for 234 in the 40th over.

Australia had retained their crown emphatically. That they had done so with their prime bowler Shane Warne not bowling a single ball showed the depth in their squad. Warne of course had to return home before Australia’s opening game against Pakistan after results arrived from Australia that he had been tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug. It was a sad exit for the famed bowler who had announced that this would be his last World Cup. But Australia buried the shame by lifting the trophy for the second time running.

ICC World Cup — 2003

Teams: 14
Games: 52 (two forfeited)
Hosts: South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya
Venues: 15
Format: Two groups of seven, top three from each go to Super Sixes, from which semi-finalists are chosen
Winners: Australia; Runners-up India
Man of the Series: Sachin Tendulkar
Prize money: Total US$4.6m, Winners $2m, Runners-up $800,000

Match summaries

Group A
• Zimbabwe v Namibia at Harare on Feb 10 — Zimbabwe won by 86 runs (D/L method) (Zim 340/2; Nam 104/5)
• Australia v Pakistan at Johannesburg on Feb 11 — Australia won by 82 runs (Aus 310/8; Pak 228)
• India v Netherlands at Paarl on Feb 12 — India won by 68 runs (Ind 204; NL 136)
• Zimbabwe v England at Harare on Feb 13, 2003, Zimbabwe won by a walkover without a ball bowled
• Australia v India at Centurion on Feb 15 — Australia won by 9 wickets, (Ind 125; Aus 128/1)
• England v Netherlands at East London on Feb 16 — England won by 6 wickets (NL 142/9; Eng 144/4)
• Namibia v Pakistan at Kimberley on Feb 16 — Pakistan won by 171 runs (Pak 255/9; Nam 84)
• England v Namibia at Port Elizabeth on Feb 19 — England won by 55 runs (Eng 272; Nam 217/9)
• Zimbabwe v India at Harare on Feb 19 — India won by 83 runs (Ind 255/7; Zim 172)
• Australia v Netherlands at Potchefstroom on Feb 20 — Australia won by 75 runs (D/L Method) (Aus 170/2; NL 122)
• England v Pakistan at Cape Town on Feb 22 — England won by 112 runs (Eng 246/8; Pak 134)
• India v Namibia at Pietermaritzburg on Feb 23 — India won by 181 runs (Ind 311/2; Nam 130)
• Zimbabwe v Australia at Bulawayo on Feb 24 — Australia won by 7 wickets (Zim 246/9; Aus 248/3)
• Netherlands v Pakistan at Paarl on Feb 25 — Pakistan won by 97 runs (Pak 253/9; NL 156)
• England v India at Durban on Feb 26 — India won by 82 runs (Ind 250/9; Eng 168)
• Australia v Namibia at Potchefstroom on Feb 27 — Australia won by 256 runs (Aus 301/6; Nam 45)
• Zimbabwe v Netherlands at Bulawayo on Feb 28 — Zimbabwe won by 99 runs (Zim 301/8; NL 202/9)
• India v Pakistan at Centurion on March 1 — India won by 6 wickets (Pak 273/7; Ind 276/4)
• Australia v England at Port Elizabeth on March 2 — Australia won by 2 wickets (Eng 204/8; Aus 208/8)
• Namibia v Netherlands at Bloemfontein on March 3 — Netherlands won by 64 runs (NL 314/4; Nam 250)
• Zimbabwe v Pakistan at Bulawayo on March 4 — No result (Pak 73/3)

Group B
• South Africa v West Indies at Cape Town on Feb 9 — West Indies won by 3 runs (WI 278/5; SA 275/9)
• New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Bloemfontein on Feb 10 — Sri Lanka won by 47 runs (SL 272/7; NZ 225)
• Bangladesh v Canada at Durban on Feb 11 — Canada won by 60 runs (Can 180; Ban 120)
• South Africa v Kenya at Potchefstroom on Feb 12 — South Africa won by 10 wickets (Ken 140; SA 142/0)
• New Zealand v West Indies at Port Elizabeth on Feb 13 — New Zealand won by 20 runs (NZ 241/7; WI 221)
• Bangladesh v Sri Lanka at Pietermaritzburg on Feb 14 — Sri Lanka won by 10 wickets (Ban 124; SL 126/0)
• Canada v Kenya at Cape Town on Feb 15 — Kenya won by 4 wickets (Can 197; Ken 198/6)
• South Africa v New Zealand at Johannesburg on Feb 16 — New Zealand won by 9 wickets (D/L method) (SA 306/6; NZ 229/1)
• Bangladesh v West Indies at Benoni on Feb 18 — No result (WI 244/9; Ban 32/2)
• Canada v Sri Lanka at Paarl on Feb 19 — Sri Lanka won by 9 wickets (Can 36; SL 37/1)
• Kenya v New Zealand at Nairobi on Feb 21 — Kenya won by a walkover without a ball bowled
• South Africa v Bangladesh at Bloemfontein on Feb 22 — South Africa won by 10 wickets (Ban 108; SA 109/0)
• Canada v West Indies at Centurion on Feb 23 — West Indies won by 7 wickets (Can 202; WI 206/3)
• Kenya v Sri Lanka at Nairobi on Feb 24 — Kenya won by 53 runs (Ken 210/9; SL 157)
• Bangladesh v New Zealand at Kimberley on Feb 26, 2003 — New Zealand won by 7 wickets (Ban 198/7; NZ 199/3)
• South Africa v Canada at East London on Feb 27 — South Africa won by 118 runs (SA 254/8; Can 136/5)
• Sri Lanka v West Indies at Cape Town on Feb 28 — Sri Lanka won by 6 runs (SL 228/6; WI 222/9)
• Bangladesh v Kenya at Johannesburg on March 1 — Kenya won by 32 runs (Ken 217/7; Ban 185)
• Canada v New Zealand at Benoni on March 3 — New Zealand won by 5 wickets (Can 196; NZ 197/5)
• South Africa v Sri Lanka at Durban on March 3 — Match tied (D/L method) (SL 268/9; SA 229/6)
• Kenya v West Indies at Kimberley on March 4 — West Indies won by 142 runs (WI 246/7; Ken 104)

Super Six
• Australia v Sri Lanka at Centurion on March 7 — Australia won by 96 runs (Aus 319/5; SL 223)
• India v Kenya at Cape Town on March 7 — India won by 6 wickets (Ken 225/6; Ind 226/4)
• New Zealand v Zimbabwe at Bloemfontein on March 8 — New Zealand won by 6 wickets (Zim 252/7; NZ 253/4)
• India v Sri Lanka at Johannesburg on March 10 — India won by 183 runs (Ind 292/6; SL 109)
• Australia v New Zealand at Port Elizabeth on Mar 11 — Australia won by 96 runs (Aus 208/9; NZ 112)
• Kenya v Zimbabwe at Bloemfontein on March 12 — Kenya won by 7 wickets (Zim 133; Ken 135/3)
• India v New Zealand at Centurion on March 14 — India won by 7 wickets (NZ 146; Ind 150/3)
• Australia v Kenya at Durban on March 15 — Australia won by 5 wickets (Ken 174/8; Aus 178/5)
• Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe at East London on March 15 — Sri Lanka won by 74 runs (SL 256/5; Zim 182)

Knockout
• 1st Semi-final: Australia v Sri Lanka at Port Elizabeth on March 18 — Australia won by 48 runs (D/L Method) (Aus 212/7; SL 123/7)
• 2nd Semi-final: India v Kenya at Durban on March 20 — India won by 91 runs (Ind 270/4; Ken 179)
• Final: Australia v India at Johannesburg on March 23 — Australia won by 125 runs (Aus 359/2; Ind 234)

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, January 25th, 2015

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