Super Aussies Triple Delight-ICC World Cup Cricket 2003

Australian cricket team of late 1990s and early 2000 was started to be compared with Sir Donald Bradman all-time great and the great West Indian team of 1970s .Brilliant bowling, excellent batting and agile –sharp fielding made them world beaters. Australia won the World Cup 2013 dominating the tournament all through.

The 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup was the eighth Cricket World Cup, organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya from 9 February to 23 March 2003. Cricket world cup for the first time went to African continent .The feature of this world was a less fancied  African team Kenya went to semifinal stage making several upsets along the way.

The tournament featured 14 teams, the largest number in the World Cup’s history at the time, playing a total of 54 matches. It followed the format introduced in the 1999 World Cup, with the teams divided into two groups, and the top three in each group qualifying for the Super Sixes stage.

The tournament witnessed numerous upsets. Leading contenders  South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies and England could not even get beyond group stage . England forfeited their match with Zimbabwe, for political reasons.Kenya, an ICC associate country, made the semi-finals.

Australia lifted the trophy for the second time in succession overwhelming India in the final in the final played at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. This was Australia’s third World Cup, making them the most successful nation in the tournament’s history.

Australian star player Shane Warne was sent home from the cup in embarrassing circumstances, only the day before their opening game, after a positive drug test in a lead-up competition in Australia revealed that he had taken a banned diuretic. The leg spinner claimed that he had taken a ‘fluid pill‘ on the advice of his mother.

Politics played its part in cricket again. Concerns were raisedabout the security and political situation in Zimbabwe, and the appropriateness of playing there given the misdeeds of the regime of Robert Mugabe. Two Zimbabwean players, Andy Flower and Henry Olonga (the former white, the latter black) wore black armbands for their opening game, and issued a strong statement explaining that they were “mourning the death of democracy in Zimbabwe”. Both men subsequently retired from Zimbabwean cricket, and began playing overseas, Olonga stating that to continue “would be condoning the grotesque human rights violations that have been perpetrated – and continue to be perpetrated – against my fellow countrymen”.

England faced a great deal of domestic pressure to boycott their match in Zimbabwe on political grounds, and after some prevarication – initially announcing that they would play – did not play, citing fears for the players’ safety. The boycott proved costly, as Zimbabwe advanced to the Super Sixes, just 2 points ahead of England, from the 4 points they achieved from the walkover.

Similarly, New Zealand decided against playing in Kenya because of security fears. This would ultimately cost New Zealand dearly. Had New Zealand played Kenya and won (as was expected), South Africa would have proceeded into the Super Sixes, and New Zealand would have ended up with 12 points in the Super Sixes, as they had previously defeated South Africa.

Participating Teams:

Australia , England ,South Africa , West Indies , New Zealand ,India , Pakistan, Sri Lanka , Zimbabwe ,Bangladesh , Kenya, Canada , Namibia and Netherlands .

14 teams played in the 2003 World Cup, the largest number of teams to play in a Cricket World Cup at the time. The 10 Testplaying nations including the new member Bangladesh automatically qualified for the tournament, while Kenya also qualified automatically due to their full One Day International status. The other three spots were filled by the top three teams in the 2001 ICC Trophy in Canada, which served as a qualifying tournament.

The 14 teams divided into two groups of seven, and the top three from each group qualifying for the Super Sixes stage, carrying forward the results they had achieved against other qualifiers from their group. The top four teams in the Super Sixes qualified for the semi-finals, and the winners of those matches contested the final.

Group A Points Table:

The striking feature of the group matches was England refusing to play against Zimbabwe at Harare .Zimbabwe was awarded the match which made them qualify over England for super six. The other outstanding match of the group was India Pakistan derby. It was a high scoring match dominated by the batsmen. Batting first Pakistan scored 273/7 with stylish Pakistan opener Saeed Anwar scoring 101 .Pakistan possessing lethal bowling attack of Wasim Akram, Soaib Akhter and Waqar Yunus were thought to defend such a total. But superb aggressive batting my Indian batting Legend Sachin Tendulkar (98 in 75 deliveries) and wonderful support from Yuvaraj Singh (50* and Rahul Dravid (44*) won the match for India by 6 wickets. Australia won all their matches without being much stressed. India looked good also at the group stage.

Group B Points Table:

Surprisingly Keneya advanced to Super sixes elbowing South Africa and West Indies. They beat Bangladesh , Canada and Sri Lanka and got full points from New Zealand as the later failed to turn up for the match giving them walk over . South Africa could not go through on their backyard disappointing their admirers.

 It was a very disappointing world cup for Bangladesh also .They lost all their matches. They failed to win even against Kenya and Canada. The quality of Bangladesh cricket to confront the international teams in major tournament was nakedly exposed.

Super Six Points Table:

Semi Finals:

SM1: Australia played against Sri Lanka on 18 March 2003 at St Georges Oval, Port Elizabeth ,South Africa : Australia 212/7 ( A Symonds 91* , DS Lehman 36 , WPUJC Vaas 3 34, PA de Silva 2/ 36) beat Sri Lanka 123/7 ( KC Sanagrakara 39, B Lee 3/35)by 48 ( D/L Method)

It was a very difficult wicket. Ball was turning and bouncing. Australia struggled to cope with the situation complete different to what they are used to. They could manage a moderate score of 212 /7 against tight Sri Lankan bowling. Only Andrew Symonds could survive to play an innings of his life time scoring an unbeaten 91 from 118 balls with 7 fours and a six. Chaminda Vaas, continuing his excellent tournament, took three wickets.

Australia had to do something extraordinary to lift the team. The pace attack then ripped through the Sri Lankan top order. Brett Lee (3/35 in 8 overs) taking three early wickets.Glenn McGrath with 1/20 in 7 overs bowled miserly as ever. By the time rain arrived in the 39th over, continued tight bowling had squeezed Sri Lanka to 123 (7 wickets, 38.1 overs), well behind the target given by the Duckworth–Lewis method. Australia won by 48 runs on D/L count.

SM2: India played against Kenya at Sahara Stadium, Kingsmead, Durban, South Africa.

India 270/4 (SR Ganguly 111*SR Tendulkar 83 ), beat Kenya 179 All Out ( SO Tikolo  56, Z Khan 3/14 ,ANehera 2/11, SR Tendulkar 2 /28)   by 91 runs. 

The dream journey for the Kenyan team came to an end. Till now Kenya remains the only non-Test-playing nation to ever make a World Cup semi-final. Two great Indian batsmen sizzling Sourav Ganguly (111 from 114 balls, 5 fours, 5 sixes) and maestro Sachin Tendulkar (83 from 101 balls, 5 fours, 1 six), batted with complete authority. Their 103 runs second wicket partnership virtually knocked the Kenyans out of the game as India careered to a total of 270 (4 wickets, 50 overs).

Under the Durban lights, the lethal Indian seam attack of Zaheer Khan (3/14 in 9.2 overs),Javagal Srinath (1/11 in 7 overs) and Ashish Nehra (2/11 in 5 overs) ripped through the Kenyan top order. Kenya could only manage 179 (46.2 overs). Steve Tikolo (56 from 83 balls, 5 fours, 2 sixes) could only brave Indian attack.  India qualified for the final against Australia.

Final: Australia –India final played at Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg,South Africa on 23 March 2003 .

Australia 359/2 ( RT Ponting 140*, DR Martyn 88* )  beat India 234 All Out ( V Shewag 82, R Dravid 47,GD McGrath 3/42)  125 Runs .

Ganguly asked Australia to bat on what appeared to be a damp wicket from rain and dew.  But. On a lively Wanderers Stadium pitch the wayward Indian bowling was ruthlessly punished by Australian batsmen.  Flamboyant Adam Gilchrist (57 from 48 balls, 8 fours, 1 six) and Matthew Hayden (37 from 54 balls, 5 fours) produced a flying start with an opening partnership of 105 runs in 14 overs. Ganguly had to the spinners early. The change of pace brought wickets with Adam Gilchrist, was removed by Harbhajan Singh. Matthew Hayden, also soon followed for 37, leaving Australia at 2/125. In came Captain Ricky Ponting to play one of the most outstanding innings in a world cup final to be matched with Clive Lloyds and Vivian Ricahrds in the first and second World Cup finals. Ponting scored 140 from 121 balls, 4 fours, 8 sixes). He was ably supported by Damien Martyn playing with a broken thumb .Martyn scored 88 from 84 balls with 7 fours, 1 six). The pair mastered a partnership of 234 runs in 30.1 overs, an Australian record for one-day cricket. Ponting and Martyn started efficiently, putting away bad balls but mostly keeping the scoring going with good running, then letting loose in the last ten overs, taking 109 from them. Ponting in particular dispatched the bowling over the fence with fearsome regularity in scoring 8 sixes, the most from one batsman in any World Cup match at the time. The final Australian total of 359 (2 wickets, 50 overs), at a run rate of 7.18 runs an over, was their then second highest ever in ODI history.

India’s run chase was made even more difficult after their trump card, Sachin Tendulkar, was out in the first over after skying a pull shot, Glenn McGrath completing the caught and bowled. Blaster Virender Sehwag’s (82 from 81 balls, 10 fours, 3 sixes) with run-a-ball half century kept India for the hunt for a while. Their only realistic hope—a washout—looked a possibility as the game was interrupted by rain with India at 3/103 after 17 overs. However, this rain passed by, and India’s hopes were dashed when Sehwag was unfortunately run out by Darren Lehmann, and again when Rahul Dravid (47 from 57 balls, 2 fours) was bowled by Andy Bichel, ending their partnership of 88 runs in 13.2 overs. India’s batsmen continued to throw wickets away in the chase as the run rate crept up past 7 an over, and they were finally bowled out for 234 (all out, 39.2 overs) at a run rate of 5.97 runs an over giving Australia an emphatic victory by a record margin (in World Cup finals thus far) of 125 runs, underlining their dominance of the tournament. Ponting was named “Man of the Match”, and Sachin Tendulkar was named “Player of the Series

Australians were worthy winners. They were by far the better team throughout the tournament and deservedly won their third world cup and the second in succession.

2003 ICC World Cup statistics

• Administrator – International Cricket Council
• Cricket format – One Day International
• Tournament formats – Round robin and Knockout
• Hosts – South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya
• Champions – Australia (3rd title)
• Participants – 14
• Matches played – 54
• Attendance – 626,845 (11,608 per match)
• Most runs – Sachin Tendulkar (673)
• Most wickets – Chaminda Vaas (23)
• Player of the series – Sachin Tendulkar (India)
• Player of the Final match – RT Ponting (Australia) 140 no