2002 Morocco Cup

The 2002 Morocco Cup was a three-team cricket tournament which took place in Tangier, Morocco during August 2002. The tournament was the first occasion on which the highest level of international cricket had been played in north Africa. Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka competed in the competition, which was funded by Abdul Rahman Bukhatir, a wealthy business man from the United Arab Emirates. Sri Lanka beat South Africa in the final to scoop the $250,000 prize money.^[1]

The tournament, in addition to attracting TV audiences to Bukhatir's TEN Sports channel, promoted cricket in north Africa. All of the matches were played at the National Cricket Stadium in Tangier, a purpose built ground which cost $4 million, most of which was spent on the grandstand. The organisers of the competition were so keen to avoid any accusations of match-fixing that they installed closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the team dressing rooms.^[1]

During the group stage, Pakistan won only once; beating Sri Lanka in the second match of the tournament. Sri Lanka beat Pakistan in their other match, and defeated South Africa in both the side's group contests to finish top of the table. South Africa won both their matches against Pakistan to qualify for the final.^[2] In the final, Sri Lanka beat South Africa by 27 runs, led by a run-a-ball score of 71 from their captain Sanath Jayasuriya, and two wickets from each of Chaminda Vaas, Pulasthi Gunaratne and Muttiah Muralitharan.^[3]

Jayasuriya finished the tournament as the leading run-scorer, aggregating 299 runs from his five appearances at an average of 59.80. Each of the top-three run-scorers were Sri Lankan; the highest Pakistani batsman was Yousuf Youhana whose 153 runs placed him fourth, while South African Jacques Kallis was fifth with 141 runs.^[4] In contrast, Waqar Younis of Pakistan took the most wickets, 11, followed by a pair of South Africans – Allan Donald and Lance Klusener, who took 10 and 9 respectively. Upul Chandana and Pulasthi Gunaratne were the leading Sri Lankans, claiming 8 wickets apiece.^[5]

Group stage

Table

Key: Pld = Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, Pts = Points, NRR = Net run rate.

Morocco Cup^[6]

Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	NRR
Sri Lanka*	4	3	1	13	+0.725
South Africa*	4	2	2	8	−0.725
Pakistan	4	1	3	4	−0.725

Notes:
Teams marked   *  progressed to the final of the competition.

Match logs and statistics

12 August Scorecard

South Africa  283/9 (50 overs)

v

Pakistan 229 (43.2 overs)

South Africa won by 54 runs National Cricket Stadium, Tangier

14 August Scorecard

Pakistan  279/5 (50 overs)

v

Sri Lanka 251/8 (50 overs)

Pakistan won by 28 runs National Cricket Stadium, Tangier

15 August Scorecard

Sri Lanka  267/7 (50 overs)

v

South Africa 174 (45 overs)

Sri Lanka won by 93 runs National Cricket Stadium, Tangier

17 August Scorecard

Sri Lanka  242 (49.5 overs)

v

Pakistan 203 (43.4 overs)

Sri Lanka won by 39 runs National Cricket Stadium, Tangier

18 August Scorecard

South Africa  196/8 (50 overs)

v

Pakistan 188 (48.3 overs)

South Africa won by 8 runs National Cricket Stadium, Tangier

19 August Scorecard

South Africa  220/6 (50 overs)

v

Sri Lanka 221/4 (42.1 overs)

Sri Lanka won by 6 wickets National Cricket Stadium, Tangier

Final

21 August Scorecard

Sri Lanka  235/7 (50 overs)	v	South Africa 208 (48.3 overs)
Sanath Jayasuriya 71 (71) Allan Donald 2/35 (8 overs) Lance Klusener 2/35 (10 overs)		Mark Boucher 70 (65) Chaminda Vaas 2/33 (10 overs) Muttiah Muralitharan 2/35 (10 overs)

Sri Lanka won by 27 runs National Cricket Stadium, Tangier Umpires: Daryl Harper and Simon Taufel (both Australia) Player of the match: Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka)

• Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat.

References