This weekend sees South Asia come to a standstill as India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh play host to the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup. With 49-match to be played across 43-days in 13 different venues Sport.co.uk has compiled a list of our Top 10 favourite moments from past tournaments to get you in the mood for what this festival of cricket.
1. India upset the odds, and one the greatest side to ever play the game (1983)
The West Indies were expected to claim their third-straight World Cup in a row, a feat fitting of the team and the players who were part of it; Greenidge, Haynes, Richards, Marshall, Lloyd, Holding – to name but a few. India were noting of the force that they are today; having made their way quietly to the final, they were expected to be nothing more than a footnote in yet another chapter in West Indies’ dominance of international cricket in the 70s and early 80s. However with inspirational all-rounder Kapil Dev at ht helm they were not totally written off, but after they were skittled out for 183, eyes-rolled as spectators resigned themselves to watching the anti-climax they had expected.
With Viv Richards leading his side to 50 for 1, Caribbean celebrations began – cue Madan Lal and Mohinder Amarnath entering the fray and taking three wickets each to dismiss a stunned West Indies for 140. Only four West Indian batsmen made it to double figures in a final that would go down as one of the biggest shocks in international cricket and trigger South Asia’s commercial dominance of the sport.
2. Mike Gatting’s miscalculation (1987)
To this day, the 1987 final is the closest England ever got to winning the 50-over competition. Australia posted 253 and England were eating into their target with ease; at 135 for 2, captain Mike Gatting and Bill Athey at the crease, the Aussies were at a loose end and turned to the left-arm spin of captain Allan Border. With Border reinforcing the on-side, Gatting pre-empted a reverse-sweep for the first ball, to give the Australian captain something else to think about.
However with the ball pitching wider than expected, Gatting decided to continue with the shot and only managed to get the shoulder of the bat to the ball, which flew up and behind to Greg Dyer, who was so surprised he almost dropped it. Gatting trudged off with fifty to his name, but well aware at he had carelessly given his wicket away; unfortunately for him England's innings never recovered, despite a late cameo from Allan Lamb. Australia went on to win that world cup and begin their dominant spell in cricket and, especially, England.
3. Aravinda de Silva wins the final for Sri Lanka (1996)
He may not cut the figure of an international sportsman (few cricketers did that time) but Aravinda de Silva produced one of the greatest all-round displays ever seen in the sport’s showcase event.
Australia got off to a good start to 137 for 1 with Mark Taylor and Ricky Ponting batting fluently, until de Silva was brought into the attack and removed them both with his off-break; Taylo was caught sweeping for 74 and four overs later Ponting was bowled for 45. He then caught Steve Waugh and Stuart Law before returning to take the wicket of Ian Healy to finish with 3 for 42 in nine overs. Australia’s 241 looked gettable, but no side had won the World Cup chasing – though that was all about to change.
Openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana were revolutionaries that tournament, with explosive hitting at the top of the innings, but failed to produced in the final as they were both dismissed for only 23 runs. The responsibility fell to De Silva and Asanka Gurusinha, who together forged a 125 run partnership, to put the chase right back on track. Aravinda struck 13 boundaries in his century and was unbeaten on 107 off 124 balls when the World Cup was won in the 47th over.
4. Allan Donald doesn’t run (1999)
One of the greatest games ever played, which typifies the cricketing-clichés of the two teams involved; Australia never gave up and South Africa lost their nerve. Restricting Australia to 213, South Africa faced a modest chase at Edgbaston to make it through to their first ever World Cup final.
A trademark spell from Shane Warne brought him 4 for 29 off 10 overs and suddenly the Aussies were in the ascendancy. However a late blitz from the brutal Lance Klusener (who had only been dismissed twice that tournament) saw the scores tied and the Proteas needing a solitary run from the next four balls, with one wicket remaining. Klusener hits the next ball straight to Darren Lehmann; Donald panics and sets off for a run, only to be sent-back by Klusener. As he turns to run back, Lehmann fires at the stumps from close range but misses with glaring inaccuracy. Despite this misunderstanding, Klusener decided against having a word with his twitchy partner, and it proved costly.
Damien Fleming bowls the next one in the block-hole, which Klusener digs out and immediately sets off. The ball goes straight to Mark Waugh, who looks up to see Klusener make the ground at the other end – only Allan Donald has stayed put; Waugh relays the ball to Damien Fleming who then rolls the ball down the pitch to Gilchrist, who removes the bails as Donald scampers down the wicket after dropping his bat. Cue pandemonium in the Australia camp as Donald stands motionless in the middle, with Klusener continuing his run back to the dressing room. As the scores were tied, Australia progressed because of their superior net run-rate in the Super-six stage.
5. Zimbabwe’s black arm-band protest (2003)
Before the start of Zimbabwe's opening match against Namibia, a statement was released by senior players Andy Flower and Henry Olonga in which they announced they would be wearing black armbands to "mourn the death of democracy in Zimbabwe". Much of the build up around the 2003 World Cup centred on the moral and ethical implications of staging matches in Zimbabwe; England ended up boycotting their game scheduled in Harare, following death threats sent to then skipper Nasser Hussain. Flower and Olonga stressed that their protest would be a silent, yet dignified gesture and the public were only aware of such a stance when Flower entered the field in the 22nd over sporting the armband.
The global spotlight meant the local authorities could not clamp down on such a show of dissent in their usual, brutal manner, and instead proceeded to drop Olonga for the next match. Flower was also to be given the same treatment but the ZCU did not go through with it after his team-mates threatened to strike. After the conclusion of the competition, neither player represented Zimbabwe again.
6. Canada’s John Davison hits the quickest World Cup hundred (2003)
Born in Canada and raised in Australia, Davison played cricket down-under up to state cricket, only to find himself on the fringes of the Victoria and South Australia sides. Even when he did find himself thrust into the sides he was primarily used for his for his off-spin, coming in to bat in the lower-order (at Victoria) he averaged 8.15 from 42 innings.
Now representing his place of birth in the 2003 World Cup in their fourth game of the World Cup against the West Indies, the Canadian opener went big. Despite only scoring 39 runs in his last three innings, he smashed a half-century from just 30 deliveries, with six fours and three sixes; 17 balls later he had his century - at the time the fastest in World Cup history.
He would go on to make 111, with his dismissal starting a collapse from 156 for 3 to 203 all-out. The West Indies chased the target down comfortably in 20.3 overs, but the day belonged to Davison as he wrote himself into ICC Cricket World Cup folklore.
7. Herschelle Gibbs does a ‘Sobers’ (2007)
Gibbs has always been branded as a selfish cricketer, one who would only exert himself provided he himself would reap the benefits of it; for that reason he was cited as a disruptive influence on the team and has had many a run in with Cricket South Africa.
There was no doubting his talents as a big-hitter at the top of the order, and this over in the 2007 World Cup against the Netherlands, he showed just how big a hitter he could be. At 178 for 2, with Gibbs and Kallis at the crease with 11 overs of a reduced game left, the message from the changing room was to press down on the accelerator – Gibbs duly obliged (must to the distress of Dutch bowler Daan Van Bunge). "After the fourth one, I thought it could be on (hitting six 6s),” said the South African, “Luckily I didn't miscue any of them, so it was quite nice."
He became the first player to hit six maximums in a World Cup and, to add incentive to imperiousness, was rewarded with $1 million from whisky manufacturers Johnnie Walker (though, given the revelations in his recent autobiography, you would be forgiven for thinking he was sponsored by Johnnie Walker).
8. Malinga takes four in four (2007)
The game in Providence stadium, Guyana, looked to be coming to a rudimentary conclusion; South Africa required four runs to win, with five wickets remaining after dismissing Sri Lanka for what looked to be an inadequate 204. With two balls left in the 45th over Lasith Malinga decided to turn the game on its head; setting his sling to ‘stun’, he dismissed Shaun Pollock (bowled) and Andrew Hall (caught at cover) in consecutive balls. Still just requiring four runs, but now with only three wickets remaining, the next over only brought one run.
Surely even by South African standards they could not lose; surely this was un-bottle-able? Kallis, on 86, faces Malinga’s hat-trick ball but knicks off as he attempts an off-side drive. Malinga wheels off celebrating, with the Proteas in disarray and Sri Lanka sensing that they have the momentum.
Out comes a petrified Makhaya Ntini, who takes guard, only to be bowled by a characteristic in-swinging yorker from Malinga – FOUR in FOUR! Unfortunately it was not enough, as Robyn Peterson managed to finally get the bowler away for a squirted boundary down to 3rd man (though not before playing and missing at his first ball). A truly remarkable spell of bowling...
9. Bangladesh beat India (2007)
Bangladesh were young and full of potential; India experienced, imposing and strong – ‘David and Goliath’ stories do not come more stereotypical than this. As a team Bangladesh were starting to reap the rewards of the time and effort put in but all those associated with bringing its cricket up to scratch (in the eyes of the ICC).
Conversely India were a side in disarray with rumblings of discontent in the camp and rumours abound that the days of Gregg Chappell and Rahul Dravid are numbered, as coach and captain respectively. India put themselves into bat, and were reeling – brilliant bowling from Mashrafe Mortaza and Abdur Razzak meant that only three of the top seven batsman made it to double figures. India stumbled to 191 all-out, and while victory was insight for the Tigers, it all seemed a bit too good to be true.
Enter a 17 year-old by the name of Tamim Iqbal; having only heard his coaches and team-mates sing his praises, it was time to see what this kid was made of; as it happens, hard-stuff. He hit the ball to all parts, leaving even the crafty Zaheer Khan scratching his head for ideas as to how to combat this onslaught.
When Iqbal departed with 51 off 55 balls (including 7 fours and 2 sixes) Mushfiqur Rahim (18) and Shakib Al Hasan (19) both notched up composed fifties as they guided Bangladesh to a historic victory and into the Super 8 stage, at the expense of their more reputable neighbours.
10. Adam Gilchrist’s squash-ball influenced 149 (2007)
In 2007 the legendary Australian keeper-batsman eclipsed everything had previously done in his last two finals; not bad considering he notced 54 from 36 balls in 1999 against Pakistan and 57 from 48 against India in 2003. But nothing quite compared to this. Having spent the competition playing second-fiddle to the emphatic Mathew Hayden, Gilchrist had one of those moments where it looked like the opposition were bowling with a beach-ball.
Crashing Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando to all parts of Barbados, he brought up his 15th ODI hundred from just 72 balls. Gilchrist later revealed that he had inserted half a squash ball into his left-glove, following consultations with the Australia batting-coach over his bottom-hand grip; the difference was clear for all to see as he pointed at the glove in question as he celebrated reaching his ton.
The Sri Lankan cricket board called foul-play, Cricket Australia sighted innovation - the rest of us enjoyed a batting master-class, as Australia secured a hat-trick of World Cup wins.