AN unworthy match produced worthy winners; that was how Wisden Cricket Monthly described Australia running away with the 1999 World Cup title after the shortest-ever final in international cricket history.

Staged in England for the fourth time after a 16-year gap, the tournament saw a complete revamp. The 12 teams were split into two groups with the top three teams from each pool advancing to the Super Six. They also carried points to the second stage they had picked against their fellow qualifiers in the league phase.

Zimbabwe, by virtue of two major upsets, found themselves in the Super Six alongside their victims – South Africa and India – while hosts England were eliminated after the first stage.

Pakistan’s campaign in the first round was generally smooth until they decided to lose to their ‘brothers’ from Bangladesh in the final group fixture at Northampton. The minnows’ victory was not without match-fixing suspicions since it later earned the Test status.

Pakistan, regarded as the tournament’s most exciting team, played their worst cricket in living memory in the June 20 final at Lord’s after demolishing New Zealand in the Old Trafford semi-final by nine wickets.

After surviving a few close calls, notably against South Africa, Steve Waugh’s side reached final after arguably the greatest World Cup game. Pitted against South Africa in a classic semi-final at Edgbaston, Australia fought back to snatch a sensational tie against Hansie Cronje’s men when Allan Donald was run out in a terrible mix-up with the big-hitting Lance Klusener.

After such histrionics, the final was eagerly anticipated. Early morning rain in London delayed the 10:45 start by 30 minutes. To the surprise of many, Wasim Akram elected to bat after winning the toss when the prevailing conditions demanded bowling first.

The decision cost Pakistan heavily as Australia rolled them over for a measly 132 in 39 overs with Shane Warne spinning his way a four-wicket haul after Glenn McGrath’s probing line and length had the Pakistanis groping for survival.

The Australians were celebrating on the balcony as Darren Lehmann stroked the winning boundary off Saqlain Mushtaq at 4.32pm to be précised. The entire run-chase required only 121 deliveries all told and not even Shoaib Akhtar, who bowled the fastest ball of the showpiece event, a 96-mph thunderbolt, could save Pakistan from a hiding that left them in complete shock.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN:

Saeed Anwar b Fleming 15

Wajahatullah Wasti c M.E. Waugh b McGrath 1

Abdul Razzaq c S.R. Waugh b Moody 17

Ijaz Ahmed b Warne 22

Inzamam-ul-Haq c Gilchrist b Reiffel 15

Moin Khan c Gilchrist b Warne 6

Shahid Afridi lbw b Warne 13

Azhar Mahmood c and b Moody 8

Wasim Akram c S.R. Waugh b Warne 8

Saqlain Mushtaq c Ponting b McGrath 0

Shoaib Akhtar not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-10, W-13, NB-2) 25

TOTAL (all out, 39 overs) 132

FALL OF WKTS: 1-21 (Wajahatullah Wasti, 4.4 ov), 2-21 (Saeed Anwar, 5.1 ov), 3-68 (Abdul Razzaq, 19.4 ov), 4-77 (Ijaz Ahmed, 23.4 ov), 5-91 (Moin Khan, 27.1 ov), 6-104 (Inzamam-ul-Haq, 30.1 ov), 7-113 (Shahid Afridi, 31.6 ov), 8-129 (Azhar Mahmood, 36.6 ov), 9-129 (Wasim Akram, 37.2 ov).

BOWLING: McGrath 9-3-13-2; Fleming 6-0-30-1 (2nb, 4w); Reiffel 10-1-29-1 (2w); Moody 5-0-17-2 (1w); Warne 9-1-33-4 (2w).

AUSTRALIA:

M.E. Waugh not out 37

A.C. Gilchrist c Inzamam b Saqlain 54

R.T. Ponting c Moin b Wasim 24

D.S. Lehmann not out 13

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-1, NB-3) 5

TOTAL (for two wkts, 20.1 overs) 133

FALL OF WKTS: 1-75 (Gilchrist, 10.1 ov), 2-112 (Ponting, 17.4 ov).

DID NOT BAT: S.R. Waugh, M.G. Bevan, T.M. Moody, S.K. Warne, P.R. Reiffel, D.W. Fleming, G.D. McGrath.

BOWLING: Wasim Akram 8-1-41-1 (2nb, 1w); Shoaib Akhtar 4-0-37-0 (1nb); Abdul Razzaq 2-0-13-0; Azhar Mahmood 2-0-20-0; Saqlain Mushtaq 4.1-0-21-1.

RESULT: Australia won by eight wickets.

UMPIRES: S.A. Bucknor (West Indies) and D.R. Shepherd (England).

TV UMPIRE: S. Venkataraghavan (India).

MATCH REFEREE: R.S. Madugalle (Sri Lanka).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Shane Warne.