1992 Cricket World Cup

1992 Benson and Hedges World Cup
Dates 22 February – 25 March
Administrator(s) International Cricket Council
Cricket format One Day International
Tournament format(s) Round robin and Knockout
Host(s)  Australia
 New Zealand
Champions  Pakistan (1st title)
Participants 9
Matches played 39
Man of the Series Martin Crowe
Most runs Martin Crowe (456)
Most wickets Wasim Akram (18)
1987 (Previous) (Next) 1996

The 1992 Cricket World Cup (Benson & Hedges World Cup) was the fifth edition of the tournament and was held from 22 February to 25 March 1992 in Australia and New Zealand. It witnessed a complete Round Robin replacing the two qualifying groups that were present earlier. The participants included Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, and Zimbabwe. In this tournament, for the first time, 'Man of the Series' was awarded and it went to Martin Crowe from New Zealand.[1] It was sponsored by Benson and Hedges, and was won by Pakistan, who defeated England in the final.

Contents

Firsts

The 1992 World Cup was the first to feature coloured player clothing, white cricket balls and black sightscreens with a number of matches being played under floodlights.[2] These innovations had been increasingly used in One Day Internationals since World Series Cricket introduced them in the late 1970s, but they were not a feature of the first four World Cups.

The 1992 World Cup was also the first to be held in Southern hemisphere. It was also the first World Cup to include the South Africa national cricket team, which had been allowed to re-join the International Cricket Council as a Test-playing nation after the end of apartheid.

Format

The format was changed from previous tournaments in that a complete round robin replaced the use of two qualifying groups. The initial draw was released with eight competing countries and 28 round robin matches. In late 1991, South Africa were re-admitted to the International Cricket Council and the draw was amended to include them. The revised draw included 36 round robin matches plus the two semi-finals and the final.

The rule for calculating the target score for the team batting second in rain-affected matches was also changed. The previous rule simply multiplied the run rate of the team batting first by the number of overs available to the team batting second. This rule was deemed to be too much in favour of the team batting second. In an attempt to rectify this, the target score would now be calcuated by the "highest scoring overs" formula. In this system, if the team batting second had 44 overs available, their target score would be one greater than the 44 highest scoring overs of the team batting first. While the reasoning behind the system was sound, the timing of rain interruptions remained problematic: as the semi-final between England and South Africa demonstrated, where a difficult but eminently reachable 22 runs off 13 balls was reduced to 22 off 7 (the least productive over, a maiden, being deducted) and finally 21 off 1 ball (the next least productive over having given 1 run). It was seen that, if the interruption came during the second innings, the side batting second was at a significant disadvantage - one which was only overcome once, in fact, in England's group-stage victory over South Africa.

Teams

The 1992 World Cup featured the seven Test teams of the day, South Africa, who would play their first Test in 22 years in the West Indies a month after the World Cup, and Zimbabwe, who would play their first Test match later in 1992. Teams who entered were:[3]

Venues

Australia

Venue City Matches
Adelaide Oval Adelaide, South Australia 3
Lavington Sports Oval Albury, New South Wales 1
Eastern Oval Ballarat, Victoria, Victoria 1
Berri Oval Berri, South Australia 1
The Gabba Brisbane, Queensland 3
Manuka Oval Canberra, ACT 1
Bellerive Oval Hobart, Tasmania 2
Ray Mitchell Oval Mackay, Queensland 1
Melbourne Cricket Ground Melbourne, Victoria 5
WACA Ground Perth, Western Australia 3
Sydney Cricket Ground Sydney, New South Wales 4

New Zealand

Venue City Matches
Eden Park Auckland, Auckland 4
Lancaster Park Christchurch, Canterbury 2
Carisbrook Dunedin, Otago 1
Trust Bank Park Hamilton, Waikato 2
McLean Park Napier, Hawke's Bay 1
Pukekura Park New Plymouth, Taranaki 1
Basin Reserve Wellington, Wellington 3

Squads

Round Robin Stage

Co-hosts New Zealand proved the surprise packet of the tournament, winning their first seven games to finish on top of the table after the round robin. The other hosts, Australia, were one of the pre-tournament favourites but lost their first two matches. They recovered somewhat to win four of the remaining six, but narrowly missed out on the semi-finals. The West Indies also finished with a 4-4 record, but were just behind Australia on run-rate. South Africa made a triumphant return to international cricket with a win over Australia at the SCG in their first match. They and England had solid campaigns and easily qualified for the semis, despite upset losses to Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe respectively. India had a disappointing tournament and never looked likely to progress beyond the round robin. Sri Lanka were still establishing themselves at the highest level and beat only Zimbabwe (who did not yet have Test status) and South Africa. New Zealand were defeated only twice in the tournament, both times by Pakistan, in their final group match and in the semi-final. Pakistan had been lucky to be in the semi-finals at all: following only one victory in their first five matches, they were also fortunate to scrape a point from the washed-out match against England which appeared to be heading for a heavy English victory (Pak 74 all out, Eng 24/1): eventually they finished one point ahead of Australia with an inferior run-rate.

Points Table

Team Pts Pld W L NR T RD RR
 New Zealand 14 8 7 1 0 0 0.59 4.76
 England 11 8 5 2 1 0 0.47 4.36
 South Africa 10 8 5 3 0 0 0.14 4.36
 Pakistan 9 8 4 3 1 0 0.17 4.33
 Australia 8 8 4 4 0 0 0.20 4.22
 West Indies 8 8 4 4 0 0 0.07 4.14
 India 5 8 2 5 1 0 0.14 4.95
 Sri Lanka 5 8 2 5 1 0 −0.68 4.21
 Zimbabwe 2 8 1 7 0 0 −1.14 4.03

Match Scores

22 February 1992
Scorecard
New Zealand
248/6 (50 overs)
v Australia
211 (48.1 overs)
New Zealand won by 37 runs
Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand
Umpires: Khizer Hayat and David Shepherd
Player of the match: Martin Crowe
Martin Crowe 100* (134)
Craig McDermott 2/43 (10 overs)
David Boon 100 (133)
Gavin Larsen 3/30 (10 overs)

22 February 1992
Scorecard
England
236/9 (50 overs)
v India
227 (49.2 overs)
England won by 9 runs
WACA Ground, Perth, Australia
Umpires: Dooland Buulltjens and Peter McConnell
Player of the match: Ian Botham
Robin Smith 91 (108)
Manoj Prabhakar 2/34 (10 overs)
Ravi Shastri 57 (112)
Dermot Reeve 3/38 (6 overs)

23 February 1992
Scorecard
Zimbabwe
312/4 (50 overs)
v Sri Lanka
313/7 (49.2 overs)
Sri Lanka won by 3 wickets
Pukekura Park, New Plymouth, New Zealand
Umpires: Piloo Reporter and Steve Woodward
Player of the match: Andy Flower
Andy Flower 115* (152)
Pramodya Wickramasinghe 2/50 (10 overs)
Arjuna Ranatunga 88* (61)
Eddo Brandes 3/70 (10 overs)

23 February 1992
Scorecard
Pakistan
220/2 (50 overs)
v West Indies
221/0 (46.5 overs)
West Indies won by 10 wickets
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia
Umpires: Steve Randell and Ian Robinson
Player of the match: Brian Lara
Rameez Raja 102* (158)
Roger Harper 1/33 (10 overs)
Desmond Haynes 93* (144)
Wasim Akram 0/37 (10 overs)

25 February 1992
Scorecard
Sri Lanka
206/9 (50 overs)
v New Zealand
210/4 (48.2 overs)
New Zealand won by 6 wickets
Trust Bank Park, Hamilton, New Zealand
Umpires: Piloo Reporter and David Shepherd
Player of the match: Ken Rutherford
Roshan Mahanama 80 (131)
Willie Watson 3/37 (10 overs)
Ken Rutherford 65* (71)
Ruwan Kalpage 2/33 (10 overs)

26 February 1992
Scorecard
Australia
170/9 (49 overs)
v South Africa
171/1 (46.5 overs)
South Africa won by 9 wickets
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia
Umpires: Brian Aldridge and Steve Bucknor
Player of the match: Kepler Wessels
David Boon 27 (31)
Alan Donald 3/34 (10 overs)
Kepler Wessels 81* (148)
Peter Taylor 1/32 (10 overs)

27 February 1992
Scorecard
Pakistan
254/4 (50 overs)
v Zimbabwe
201/7 (50 overs)
Pakistan won by 53 runs
Bellerive Oval, Hobart, Australia
Umpires: Dooland Buulltjens and Steve Randell
Player of the match: Aamir Sohail
Aamir Sohail 114 (136)
Iain Butchart 3/57 (10 overs)
Andy Waller 44 (36)
Wasim Akram 3/21 (10 overs)

27 February 1992
Scorecard
West Indies
157 (49.2 overs)
v England
160/4 (39.5 overs)
England won by 6 wickets
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia
Umpires: Karl Liebenberg and Steve Woodward
Player of the match: Chris Lewis
Keith Arthurton 54 (101)
Chris Lewis 3/30 (8.2 overs)
Graham Gooch 65 (101)
Winston Benjamin 2/22 (9.5 overs)

28 February 1992
Scorecard
India
1/0 (0.2 overs)
v Sri Lanka
No result
Ray Mitchell Oval, Mackay, Australia
Umpires: Ian Robinson and David Shepherd
  • The match was initially reduced to 20 overs a side due to rain. A helicopter was used to dry the pitch but as play began rain fell again, washing out the game.

29 February 1992
Scorecard
South Africa
190/7 (50 overs)
v New Zealand
191/3 (34.3 overs)
New Zealand won by 7 wickets
Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand
Umpires: Khizer Hayat and Piloo Reporter
Player of the match: Mark Greatbatch
Peter Kirsten 90 (129)
Willie Watson 2/30 (10 overs)
Mark Greatbatch 68 (60)
Peter Kirsten 1/22 (7 overs)

29 February 1992
Scorecard
West Indies
264/8 (50 overs)
v Zimbabwe
189/7 (50 overs)
West Indies won by 75 runs
Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane, Australia
Umpires: Karl Liebenberg and Steve Woodward
Player of the match: Brian Lara
Brian Lara 72 (71)
Eddo Brandes 3/45 (10 overs)
Ali Shah 60* (87)
Winston Benjamin 3/27 (10 overs)

1 March 1992
Scorecard
Australia
237/9 (50 overs)
v India
234 (47 overs)
Australia won by 1 run (revised target)
Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane, Australia
Umpires: Brian Aldridge and Ian Robinson
Player of the match: Dean Jones
Dean Jones 90 (108)
Kapil Dev 3/41 (10 overs)
Mohammed Azharuddin 93 (102)
Tom Moody 3/56 (9 overs)
  • Rain interrupted play after 16.2 overs in the Indian innings (45/1). India's target recalculated to 236 off 47 overs.

1 March 1992
Scorecard
Pakistan
74 (40.2 overs)
v England
24/1 (8 overs)
No result
Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, Australia
Umpires: Steve Bucknor and Peter McConnell
Saleem Malik 17 (20)
Derek Pringle 3/8 (8.2 overs)
Ian Botham 6* (22)
Wasim Akram 1/7 (3 overs)

2 March 1992
Scorecard
South Africa
195 (50 overs)
v Sri Lanka
198/7 (49.5 overs)
Sri Lanka won by 3 wickets
Basin Reserve, Wellington, New Zealand
Umpires: Khizer Hayat and Steve Woodward
Player of the match: Arjuna Ranatunga
Peter Kirsten 47 (81)
Don Anurasiri 3/41 (10 overs)
Roshan Mahanama 68 (121)
Alan Donald 3/42 (9.5 overs)

3 March 1992
Scorecard
New Zealand
162/3 (20.5 overs)
v Zimbabwe
105/7 (18 overs)
New Zealand won by 48 runs (revised target)
McLean Park, Napier, New Zealand
Umpires: Karl Liebenberg and Dooland Buultjens
Player of the match: Martin Crowe
Martin Crowe 74* (43)
Kevin Duers 1/17 (6 overs)
Andy Flower 30 (28)
Chris Harris 3/15 (4 overs)
  • New Zealand innings interruped at 9/1 (2.1 overs). Match reduced to 35 overs per side. Further interruption at 52/2 (11.2 ov). Match reduced to 24 overs per side. Innings ended by a third interruption after 20.5 overs. Zimbabwe set a target of 154 from 18 overs.

4 March 1992
Scorecard
India
216/7 (49 overs)
v Pakistan
173 (48.1 overs)
India won by 43 runs
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia
Umpires: Peter McConnell and David Shepherd
Player of the match: Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar 54* (62)
Mushtaq Ahmed 3/59 (10 overs)
Aamir Sohail 62 (95)
Manoj Prabhakar 2/22 (10 overs)
  • Match reduced to 49 overs per side due to a slow over rate by Pakistan.

5 March 1992
Scorecard
South Africa
200/8 (50 overs)
v West Indies
136 (38.4 overs)
South Africa won by 64 runs
Lancaster Park, Christchurch, New Zealand
Umpires: Brian Aldridge and Steve Randell
Player of the match: Meyrick Pringle
Peter Kirsten 56 (91)
Malcolm Marshall 2/26 (10 overs)
Gus Logie 61 (69)
Meyrick Pringle 4/11 (8 overs)

5 March 1992
Scorecard
Australia
171 (49 overs)
v England
173/2 (40.5 overs)
England won by 8 wickets
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia
Umpires: Steve Bucknor and Khizer Hayat
Player of the match: Ian Botham
Tom Moody 51 (88)
Ian Botham 4/31 (10 overs)
Graham Gooch 58 (112)
Mike Whitney 1/28 (10 overs)

7 March 1992
Scorecard
India
203/7 (32 overs)
v Zimbabwe
104/1 (19.1 overs)
India won by 55 runs (revised target)
Trust Bank Park, Hamilton, New Zealand
Umpires: Dooland Buultjens and Steve Randell
Player of the match: Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar 81 (88)
John Traicos 3/35 (6 overs)
Andy Flower 43 (56)
Sachin Tendulkar 1/35 (6 overs)
  • After rain forced the early close of the Indian innings, the target was recalculated to 159 runs in the 19 overs.

7 March 1992
Scorecard
Sri Lanka
189/9 (50 overs)
v Australia
190/3 (44 overs)
Australia won by 7 wickets
Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, Australia
Umpires: Piloo Reporter and Ian Robinson
Player of the match: Tom Moody
Aravinda de Silva 62 (83)
Peter Taylor 2/34 (10 overs)
Geoff Marsh 60 (113)
Pramodya Wickramasinghe 2/29 (10 overs)

8 March 1992
Scorecard
West Indies
203/7 (50 overs)
v New Zealand
206/5 (48.3 overs)
New Zealand won by 5 wickets
Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand
Umpires: Karl Liebenberg and Peter McConnell
Player of the match: Martin Crowe
Brian Lara 52 (81)
Gavin Larsen 2/41 (10 overs)
Martin Crowe 81* (81)
Winston Benjamin 2/34 (9.3 overs)

8 March 1992
Scorecard
South Africa
211/7 (50 overs)
v Pakistan
173/8 (36 overs)
South Africa won by 20 runs (revised target)
Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane, Australia
Umpires: Brian Aldridge and Steve Bucknor
Player of the match: Andrew Hudson
Andrew Hudson 54 (77)
Imran Khan 2/34 (10 overs)
Inzamam-ul-Haq 48 (44)
Adrian Kuiper 3/40 (6 overs)
  • When Pakistan was 74/2 after 21.3 overs, rain halted the play for an hour and the target was revised to 194 in 36 overs.

9 March 1992
Scorecard
England
280/9 (50 overs)
v Sri Lanka
174 (44 overs)
England won by 106 runs
Eastern Oval, Ballarat, Australia
Umpires: Khizer Hayat and Piloo Reporter
Player of the match: Chris Lewis
Neil Fairbrother 63 (70)
Asanka Gurusinha 2/67 (10 overs)
Arjuna Ranatunga 36 (51)
Chris Lewis 4/30 (8 overs)

10 March 1992
Scorecard
India
197 (49.4 overs)
v West Indies
195/5 (44 overs)
West Indies won by 5 wickets (revised target)
Basin Reserve, Wellington, New Zealand
Umpires: Steve Randell and Steve Woodward
Player of the match: Anderson Cummins
Mohammed Azharuddin 61 (84)
Anderson Cummins 4/33 (10 overs)
Keith Arthurton 58 (99)
Javagal Srinath 2/23 (9 overs)

10 March 1992
Scorecard
Zimbabwe
163 (48.3 overs)
v South Africa
164/3 (45.1 overs)
South Africa won by 7 wickets
Manuka Oval, Canberra, Australia
Umpires: Steve Bucknor and David Shepherd
Player of the match: Peter Kirsten
Eddo Brandes 20 (28)
Peter Kirsten 3/51 (5 overs)
Kepler Wessels 70 (137)
Malcolm Jarvis 1/23 (9 overs)

11 March 1992
Scorecard
Pakistan
220/9 (50 overs)
v Australia
172 (45.2 overs)
Pakistan won by 48 runs
WACA Ground, Perth, Australia
Umpires: Karl Liebenberg and Piloo Reporter
Player of the match: Aamir Sohail
Aamir Sohail 76 (104)
Steve Waugh 3/36 (10 overs)
Dean Jones 47 (79)
Aaqib Javed 3/21 (8 overs)

12 March 1992
Scorecard
India
230/6 (50 overs)
v New Zealand
231/6 (47.1 overs)
New Zealand won by 4 wickets
Carisbrook, Dunedin, New Zealand
Umpires: Peter McConnell and Ian Robinson
Player of the match: Mark Greatbatch
Sachin Tendulkar 84 (107)
Chris Harris 3/55 (9 overs)
Mark Greatbatch 73 (77)
Manoj Prabhakar 3/46 (10 overs)

12 March 1992
Scorecard
South Africa
236/4 (50 overs)
v England
226/7 (40.5 overs)
England won by 3 wickets (revised target)
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia
Umpires: Brian Aldridge and Dooland Buultjens
Player of the match: Alec Stewart
Kepler Wessels 85 (126)
Graeme Hick 2/44 (8.2 overs)
Alec Stewart 77 (88)
Richard Snell 3/42 (7.5 overs)
  • Rain disrupted play in England's innings for 43 minutes when they were 62/0 after 12.0 overs. The target was revised to 226 in 41 overs.

13 March 1992
Scorecard
West Indies
268/8 (50 overs)
v Sri Lanka
177/9 (50 overs)
West Indies won by 91 runs
Berri Oval, Berri, Australia
Umpires: David Shepherd and Steve Woodward
Player of the match: Phil Simmons
Phil Simmons 110 (125)
Chandika Hathurusinghe 4/57 (8 overs)
Athula Samarasekera 40 (41)
Carl Hooper 2/19 (10 overs)

14 March 1992
Scorecard
Australia
265/6 (50 overs)
v Zimbabwe
137 (41.4 overs)
Australia won by 128 runs
Bellerive Oval, Hobart, Australia
Umpires: Brian Aldridge and Steve Bucknor
Player of the match: Steve Waugh
Mark Waugh 66* (39)
John Traicos 1/30 (10 overs)
Eddo Brandes 23 (28)
Peter Taylor 2/14 (3.4 overs)

15 March 1992
Scorecard
England
200/8 (50 overs)
v New Zealand
201/3 (40.5 overs)
New Zealand won by 7 wickets
Basin Reserve, Wellington, New Zealand
Umpires: Steve Randell and Ian Robinson
Player of the match: Andrew Jones
Graeme Hick 56 (70)
Dipak Patel 2/26 (10 overs)
Andrew Jones 78 (113)
Ian Botham 1/19 (4 overs)

15 March 1992
Scorecard
India
180/6 (30 overs)
v South Africa
181/4 (29.1 overs)
South Africa won by 6 wickets
Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, Australia
Umpires: Dooland Buultjens and Khizer Hayat
Player of the match: Peter Kirsten
Mohammad Azharuddin 79 (77)
Adrian Kuiper 2/28 (6 overs)
Peter Kirsten 84 (86)
Manoj Prabhakar 1/33 (5.1 overs)
  • Rain reduced the match to 30 overs per side

15 March 1992
Scorecard
Sri Lanka
212/6 (50 overs)
v Pakistan
216/6 (49.1 overs)
Pakistan won by 4 wickets
WACA Ground, Perth, Australia
Umpires: Karl Liebenberg and Peter McConnell
Player of the match: Javed Miandad
Aravinda de Silva 43 (56)
Mushtaq Ahmed 2/43 (10 overs)
Javed Miandad 57 (84)
Champaka Ramanayake 2/37 (10 overs)

18 March 1992
Scorecard
New Zealand
166 (48.2 overs)
v Pakistan
167/3 (44.4 overs)
Pakistan won by 7 wickets
Lancaster Park, Christchurch, New Zealand
Umpires: Steve Bucknor and Steve Randell
Player of the match: Mushtaq Ahmed
Mark Greatbatch 42 (67)
Wasim Akram 4/32 (9.2 overs)
Rameez Raja 119* (155)
Danny Morrison 3/42 (10 overs)

18 March 1992
Scorecard
Zimbabwe
134 (46.1 overs)
v England
125 (49.1 overs)
Zimbabwe won by 9 runs
Lavington Sports Oval, Albury, Australia
Umpires: Brian Aldridge and Khizer Hayat
Player of the match: Eddo Brandes
David Houghton 29 (74)
Ian Botham 3/23 (10 overs)
Alec Stewart 29 (96)
Eddo Brandes 4/21 (10 overs)

18 March 1992
Scorecard
Australia
216/6 (50 overs)
v West Indies
159 (42.4 overs)
Australia won by 57 runs
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia
Umpires: Piloo Reporter and David Shepherd
Player of the match: David Boon
David Boon 100 (147)
Andy Cummins 3/38 (10 overs)
Brian Lara 70 (97)
Mike Whitney 4/34 (10 overs)

Knockout stage

Summary

In the first semi final, Pakistan defeated tournament favorites New Zealand in a high scoring encounter to win their first semi final in 4 attempts including this one and book a place in the World Cup Final for the first time. Inzaman-ul-Haq smashed a 37 ball 60 in the run chase to achieve the target with one over remaining and also won the Man of the Match award.

In the second semi final between South Africa and England, the match ended in controversial situation when, after a rain delay, the rule in use for revising target scores in rain-affected matches revised their target from 22 runs from 13 balls to an impossible 21 runs from one ball. This rule was replaced for One-day International matches in Australia after the World Cup, and it was eventually superseded by the Duckworth-Lewis method for the 1999 World Cup onwards. According to the late Bill Frindall, the revised target, had the Duckworth-Lewis method been applied at that rain interruption, would have been four runs to tie or five to win from the final ball.[4] (As a point of clarity, Cricinfo points out that England's innings was also shortened by rain, and that had Duckworth-Lewis been applied to the entire game, South Africa's target from the original 45 overs would have been 273, which would then have been reduced to 257 from 43 overs, i.e. five runs more than they were set under the "highest scoring overs" rule)[5]

In a thrilling final, Pakistan beat England by 22 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), allowing the "cornered tigers" captain Imran Khan to lift the trophy. Derek Pringle took two early wickets for England before Imran Khan and Javed Miandad added 139 for the third wicket to steady the Pakistan innings - although both were very slow to score early on, and Imran benefited from a dropped catch just as he was trying to increase the tempo, having up to that point scored only 9 in 16 overs. Late flourishes from Inzamam-ul-haq (42 off 35 balls) and Wasim Akram (33 off 18 balls) took Pakistan to a total of 6 for 249. England also struggled early in their innings with Mushtaq Ahmed's googly accounting for Graeme Hick. Neil Fairbrother and Allan Lamb then took England to 4 for 141 when Wasim Akram re-entered the attack and bowled from around the wicket. He bowled Lamb and Chris Lewis with consecutive deliveries. England fell 22 runs short with captain Imran Khan, in his final One Day International, taking the final wicket of Richard Illingworth to give Pakistan its first World Cup title.

Bracket

  Semi-finals Final
21 March - Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand
 1  New Zealand 262/7  
 4  Pakistan 263/6  
 
25 March - Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia
      Pakistan 249/6
    England 227
22 March - Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia
 2  England 252/6
 3  South Africa 232/6  

Semi finals

21 March 1992
scorecard
New Zealand
262/7 (50 overs)
v Pakistan
263/6 (49 overs)
Pakistan won by 4 wickets
Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand
Umpires: Steve Bucknor and David Shepherd
Player of the match: Inzamam-ul-Haq
Martin Crowe 91 (83 balls)
Wasim Akram 2/40 (10 overs)
Mushtaq Ahmed 2/40 (10 overs)
Inzamam-ul-Haq 60 (37 balls)
Willie Watson 2/39 (10 overs)

22 March 1992
scorecard
England
252/6 (45 overs)
v South Africa
232/6 (43 overs)
England won by 19 runs (Duckworth/Lewis Method)
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia
Umpires: Brian Aldridge and Steve Randell
Player of the match: Graeme Hick
Graeme Hick 83 (90 balls)
Meyrick Pringle 2/36 (9 overs)
Andrew Hudson 46 (52 balls)
Richard Illingworth 2/46 (10 overs)
  • Rain interrupted play before the last ball of the 43rd over. South Africa then required 22 runs off 13 balls for victory. With 2 overs lost due to rain, the target was reduced to 22 runs from only 1 ball.

Final

25 March 1992
scorecard
Pakistan
249/6 (50 overs)
v England
227 all out (49.2 overs)
Pakistan won by 22 runs
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia
Umpires: Brian Aldridge and Steve Bucknor
Player of the match: Wasim Akram
Imran Khan 72 (110 balls)
Derek Pringle 3/22 (10 overs)
Neil Fairbrother 62 (70 balls)
Mushtaq Ahmed 3/41 (10 overs)

The final began with eerie resemblances to same fixture earlier in the tournament when England bowled out Pakistan for a paltry 74, as Derek Pringle dismissed both Pakistani openers at 24. However, Imran Khan and Javed Miandad settled down to see off the new ball. A crucial moment occurred when Imran Khan was dropped by Graham Gooch at 9 runs. He later went on to score a match-winning 72. At the 25 over mark, Pakistan had only scored 70, but accelerated the score to 139 by the 31st over as Javed Miandad summoned a runner and Imran and him built a steady partnership. During his innings, Imran Khan hit a huge six off Richard Illingworth that landed far back into the members section. Imran went onto score 72 and Miandad 58 to steady the innings, expectedly followed by an onslaught from Inzamam (42) and Wasim Akram (35) enabling Pakistan to give England a fighting target of 250.

England's start was shaky. Ian Botham was dismissed for a duck by Wasim Akram, followed by Stewart, Hick and Gooch, which left England tumbling at 69/4. A solid partnership of 71 between Allan Lamb and Neil Fairbrother left Imran with no choice but to give an early second spell to his main pacer Wasim Akram in the 35th over. The decision wrote the fate of the match. Two magical deliveries from the great left arm fast bowler showed Allan Lamb and the dangerous Chris Lewis the pavilion door. Soon Fairbrother was caught by Moin Khan off Aaqib Javed to seal England's last hope. When the cards were laid down, Captain Imran Khan had the last laugh when Richard Illingworth was caught by Ramiz Raja off his delivery to finish off the final and crown Pakistan World Champions of cricket.

Statistics

Leading run scorers
Runs Player Match
456 Martin Crowe 9
437 Javed Miandad 9
410 Peter Kirsten 8
368 David Boon 8
349 Rameez Raja 8
Leading wicket takers
Wickets Player Matches
18 Wasim Akram 10
16 Ian Botham 10
16 Mushtaq Ahmed 9
16 Chris Harris 9
14 Eddo Brandes 8

Man of the Series

Tactical Innovations

A notable feature of this World Cup was the innovative tactics employed by New Zealand captain Martin Crowe, who opened his team's bowling with a spin bowler, Dipak Patel, rather than with a fast bowler as is usual practice. Another innovation was then unorthodox ploy of opening the batting with "pinch hitters", such as New Zealand's Mark Greatbatch.

Notes and references

  1. ^ http://worldcup.cricketworld4u.com/1992-wc.php
  2. ^ Williamson, Martin (2007-03-17). "Ruling an impossible target". Cricinfo. http://content-www.cricinfo.com/columns/content/story/285564.html. Retrieved 2007-04-28. 
  3. ^ "Captains of 1992 Cricket World Cup". http://shugalmelaa.blogspot.com/2011/02/world-cup-captains-1992.html. 
  4. ^ "Stump the Bearded Wonder", Bill Frindall explains how D&L would apply to 1992 WC semi-final
  5. ^ England v South Africa, Cricinfo scorecard of the 2nd semi final
  6. ^ Issacs, Vic. "Benson & Hedges World Cup, 1991/92, Final". CricInfo. http://www.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/WORLD_CUPS/WC92/PAK_ENG_WC92_ODI-FINAL_25MAR1992.html. Retrieved 2007-04-29. 

External links