Australia got over a poor start to pulverise opponents with sheer
ruthlessness and lifted the World Cup trophy after 12 years as the
tournament returned to its original home England in 1999.
The competition saw the introduction of the exciting Super Six format but a couple of security breaches left a sour taste.
Though
India performed dismally, Sachin Tendulkar’s classy hundred after
returning from his father’s funeral, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly's
superb batting and South African Lance Klusener’s all-round show made it
a memorable tournament.
The authorities changed the format to
include the Super Sixes, after the initial group battles in the 12-team
competition. The nine Test playing countries were joined by three
associate members - Kenya and debutants Bangladesh and Scotland.
The
top three sides from each of the two groups battled in the Super Sixes,
with each qualifier from Group A playing each qualifier from Group B.
Another interesting rule was that the teams carried forward points they
earned against the other qualifiers from their group. The top four in
the Super Sixes moved on to the semifinals.
England, which had
hosted the first three World Cups between 1975 and 1983, got to host the
big event after 16 long years. Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the
Netherlands organised one match each.
Australia, led by the
steely Steve Waugh, suffered double defeats in Group B against Pakistan
and New Zealand after getting past Scotland in their lung opener.
However, they came into their elements thereafter, and became invincible
in the rest of the tournament -- winning six and tying one game.
In
a nail-biting semifinal, Australia and South Africa both notched up
213, but the baggy greens made the cut for the final on the strength of
finishing higher on the Super Six table.
Pakistan played exciting
cricket, with speedster Shoaib Akhtar bowling at a searing pace, and
spinner Saqlain Mustaq being among the wickets. Opener Saeed Anwar
cracked two hundreds. The 1992 winners topped group B, despite being
upset by minnows Bangladesh. Pakistan then finished first in the Super
Six stage.
India had a poor outing, losing to Zimbabwe in a group
game and failed to advance past the Super Six, where their only victory
came against arch-rivals Pakistan. However, Dravid - playing in his
maiden World Cup - topped the scorers’ list (461).
Even poorer was the performance of defending champions Sri Lanka, who crashed out from the group stage itself.
Pakistan
stormed into the final with a nine-wicket win against New Zealand, but
the summit battle turned into a complete mismatch and was over inside
four and a half hours.
Leg spinner Shane Warne was at his
beguiling best (4/33) as Pakistan were skittled out for 132. Australia
wrapped up the match and the title in merely 20.1 overs, losing only two
wickets.
It was Australia’s second triumph, having earlier won
the trophy in 1987. The only umpiring blemish in the final was the
dismissal of Pakistan’s Inzamam-ul-Haq, who was given caught behind by
umpire David Shepherd, but replays showed the ball came off the pad.
The
result triggered angry reactions in Pakistan. At Karachi airport,
people were waiting with posters containing derogatory remarks against
Pakistani players. They burnt effigy of skipper Wasim Akram.
In contrast, the celebrations stretched through the night in Australia as people rejoiced the win.
For
South Africa, who narrowly missed a place in the final, a consolation
came in the form of the Klusener who was chosen as the
Man-of-the-Tournament for scoring 281 runs and taking 17 wickets.
But an abiding image of the tourney was the hundred Tendulkar scored at Bristol following his father's sudden demise.
Ramesh
Tendulkar, a novelist and a professor, who had deeply inculcated in his
son the virtues of modesty and humility, died when India were in the
midst of the Cup campaign.
Tendulkar flew home to attend to his
father’s last rites ceremony, and returned to the tournament, to crack a
majestic 140 off 101 balls against a hapless Kenyan side.
He
dedicated his innings to his father. On completing the hundred,
Tendulkar looked upwards, and sought his father's blessings and repeated
the gesture after reaching every milestone of his glittering career
since then.
India's poor show evoked angry reactions from the
fans. Dravid and skipper Mohammed Azharuddin were attacked by an
intoxicated fan inside the playing arena at the New County Ground, Hove,
after India went down to South Africa.
"I tried to ignore him as
he seemed intoxicated, but he came up and pushed me. We need more
security. Surely the security and policing of rowdy spectators must step
up,†Azharuddin later said.
Away from his on-field heroics,
Warne found himself in the eye of a storm for making some disparaging
comments about Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga in a newspaper
column.
The spinner was fined half of his match fee and given a suspended ban.
(Kushal Chakraborty is a freelancer. He can be contacted at [email protected])
