1996

1996

Details:

Ø     Officially called the Wills World Cup.

Ø     The sixth edition of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) cricket world cup.

Ø     Held from 16 February to 17 March 1996 in Australia and New Zealand.

Ø     Sponsored by Wills Tobacco Company.

Ø      The 1996 World Cup featured the seven 12 teams (India, Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka, England, South Africa, Zimbabwe likewise 1992 and Three teams made their World Cup debuts in 1996: the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands and Kenya.

Ø      The 1996 World Cup was played in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Controversy dogged the tournament before any games were played, however, when Australia and the West Indies refused to send their teams to Sri Lanka following the Central Bank Bombing by the Tamil Tigers in January, citing security concerns.

Ø      Sri Lanka, in addition to offering maximum security to the teams, questioned the validity of citing security concerns when the International Cricket Council had determined it was safe. After extensive negotiations, the ICC ruled that Sri Lanka would be awarded both games on forfeit. As a result of this decision, Sri Lanka automatically qualified for the quarter-finals before playing a game.

Administrator	ICC
Format	ODI
Tournament Format	Round Robin and Knock out
Host	India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
Winners	Sri Lanka
Teams	12
No of Matches	37
Most Runs	SR Tendulkar (IND)(523)
Most Wickets	Anil Kumble (IND)(15)
Man of the Series	Sanath Jayasuriya(SL)

Semi Finals:

SL VS IND: 13 March 1996      

Sri Lanka                                                                          251-8 (50 overs)

Aravinda de Silva 66(47)
Javagal Srinath 3/34

India                                                                                  120-8(34.1 overs)

Sachin Tendulkar 65 (88)
Sanath Jayasuriya 3/12

Result: Sri Lanka was awarded the match.

Man of the Match: Aravinda de Silva 66(47)

AUS VS WI: 14 March 1996

Australia                                                                           207-8(50 overs)

Stuart Law 72 (105)
Curtly Ambrose 2/26

West Indies                                                                      202(all out, 49.3 overs)

Shivnarine Chanderpaul 80 (126)
Shane Warne 4/36

Result: Australia won by 5 runs.

Man of the Match: Shane Warne 4/36

Final:

AUS VS SL: 17 March 1996

Australia                                                                           241-7(50 overs)

Mark Taylor 74 (83) (8 fours, 1 six)

Ricky Ponting 45(73) (2 fours)
Aravinda de Silva 3/42

Sri Lanka                                                                          245-3(46.2 overs)

Aravinda de Silva 107 (124)
Damien Fleming 1/43

Result: Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets.

Man of the Match: Aravinda de Silva 107 (124). 

Tit Bits:

·        The Sri Lankan, coached by Dav Whatmore and captained by Arjuna Ranatunga, used Man of the Series Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana as opening batsmen to take advantage of the fielding restrictions during the first 15 overs of each innings. At a time when 50 or 60 runs in the first 15 overs was considered adequate, Sri Lanka scored 117 runs in those overs against India, 123 against Kenya, 121 against England in the quarter-final and 86 against India in the semi-final. Against Kenya, Sri Lanka made 398 for 5, a new record for the highest team score in a One Day International that stood until April 2006.

C Loyd

·        Sri Lanka won the first semi-final over India at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in front of a crowd unofficially estimated at 110 000. Chasing Sri Lanka's innings of 251 for 8, India had slumped to 120 for 8 in the 35th over when sections of crowd began to throw fruit and plastic bottles onto the field. The players left the field for 20 minutes in an attempt to quieten the crowd. When the players returned for play, more bottles were thrown onto the field and fires were lit in the stand. Match referee Clive Lloyd awarded the match to Sri Lanka, the first default ever in a Test or One Day International.

·        In the second semi-final in Mohali, Australia recovered from 15 for 4 to reach 207 for 8 from their 50 overs. The West Indians had reached 165 for 2 in the 42nd over before losing their last 8 wickets for 37 runs in 50 balls.

M Taylor

·        Sri Lanka won the toss in the final and sent Australia in to bat despite the team batting first having won all five previous World Cup finals. Mark Taylor top scored with 74 in Australia's total of 241 for 7. After Australia had put down no fewer than five catches, Sri Lanka won the match in the 47th over with Aravinda de Silva following his 3 for 42 with an unbeaten 107 to win the Player of the Match award. It was the first time a tournament host or co-host had won the cricket World Cup.

• The Wills world Cup was lifted by Arjuna Ranatunga, captain of the Sri lanka who got first time for his country.
• Sanath Jayasurya of Sri Lanka was declared the Player of the Tournament.