1996 Pepsi Sharjah Cup

The 1996 Pepsi Sharjah Cup was a triangular ODI cricket competition held in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates from 12 to 19 April 1996. It featured the national cricket teams of South Africa, Pakistan and India. Its official sponsor was Pepsi. The tournament was won by South Africa, which defeated India in the final.

Tournament

The Pepsi Sharjah Cup was the second ODI tournament held after the 1996 Cricket World Cup, held immediately afterwards the 1996 Singer Cup in Singapore, which was won by Pakistan over Sri Lanka and India. The matches were held at the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium in the emirate of Sharjah. The tournament had a round-robin series of matches, with each team playing the others twice.

Squads

Pakistan

• Aamir Sohail (captain)
• Waqar Younis
• Inzamam-ul-Haq
• Rashid Latif (wicket-keeper)
• Ata-ur-Rehman
• Basit Ali
• Saeed Anwar
• Aaqib Javed
• Mushtaq Ahmed
• Ijaz Ahmed
• Rameez Raja
• Saqlain Mushtaq
• Salim Malik
• Mohammad Akram

^[1]

Pakistan named a 14-player side, unchanged from the squad that won the 1996 Singer Cup. Intikhab Alam served as the team coach, and Dan Kiesel as the team physiotherapist.^[1]

South Africa

• Hansie Cronje (captain)
• Andrew Hudson
• Fanie de Villiers
• Daryll Cullinan
• Dave Richardson (wicket-keeper)
• Pat Symcox
• Gary Kirsten
• Paul Adams
• Brian McMillan
• Shaun Pollock
• Craig Matthews
• Jonty Rhodes
• Derek Crookes
• Jacques Kallis

^[1]

Bob Woolmer served as the team coach. Cassim Docrat was the team manager; Craig Smith was the physiotherapist and Paddy Upton worked as the exercise specialist.^[1]

India

• Mohammad Azharuddin (captain)
• Sachin Tendulkar (vice-captain)
• Javagal Srinath
• Ajay Jadeja
• Anil Kumble
• Sanjay Manjrekar
• Venkatesh Prasad
• Nayan Mongia (wicket-keeper)
• Aashish Kapoor
• Vikram Rathour
• Venkatapathy Raju
• Navjot Singh Sidhu
• Prashant Vaidya
• Rahul Dravid

^[1]

India named a 14-player side unchanged from the side it fielded in the 1996 Singer Cup. Sandeep Patil served as the team coach-cum-manager.^[1] Vikram Rathour made his international debut in the tournament.

Points Table

South Africa won all of their four round-robin matches. India and Pakistan each claimed one victory over the other. Tied at 2 points each, India qualified for the final against South Africa based on superior run-rate.

Team	P	W	L	T	NR	NRR	Points
South Africa	4	4	0	0	0	+1.67	8
India	4	1	3	0	0	−0.53	2
Pakistan	4	1	3	0	0	−1.15	2

^[2]

Matches

12 April Scorecard

Pakistan  271–5 (50 overs)	v	India 233 (47.2 overs)
Aamir Sohail 105 (127) Sachin Tendulkar 1/46 (10 overs)		Nayan Mongia 69 (78) Mushtaq Ahmed 4/47 (9.2 overs)

Pakistan won by 38 runs Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah, U.A.E. Umpires: Doug Cowie (New Zealand) and Mervyn Kitchen (England) Player of the match: Aamir Sohail (Pakistan)

• India won the toss and chose to field

13 April Scorecard

South Africa  314–3 (50 overs)	v	Pakistan 171–7 (50 overs)
Daryll Cullinan 110 * (109) Waqar Younis 1/56 (10 overs)		Salim Malik 64 (115) Fanie de Villiers 2/40 (10 overs)

South Africa won by 143 runs Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah, U.A.E. Umpires: B.C. Cooray (Sri Lanka) and Doug Cowie (New Zealand) Player of the match: Aamir Sohail (Pakistan)

• South Africa won the toss and chose to bat

14 April Scorecard

South Africa  288–6 (50 overs)	v	India 208–8 (50 overs)
Gary Kirsten 106 (116) Anil Kumble 2/45 (10 overs)		Sanjay Manjrekar 53 (80) Shaun Pollock 3/42 (10 overs)

South Africa won by 80 runs Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah, U.A.E. Umpires: B.C. Cooray (Sri Lanka) and Mervyn Kitchen (England) Player of the match: Hansie Cronje (South Africa)

• South Africa won the toss and chose to bat

15 April Scorecard

India  305–5 (50 overs)	v	Pakistan 277 (46.1 overs)
Sachin Tendulkar 118 (140) Waqar Younis 3/44 (10 overs)		Aamir Sohail 78 (86) Javagal Srinath 3/65 (10 overs)

India won by 28 runs Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah, U.A.E. Umpires: Doug Cowie (New Zealand) and Mervyn Kitchen (England) Player of the match: Sachin Tendulkar (India)

• India won the toss and chose to bat

16 April Scorecard

Pakistan  188 (45 overs)	v	South Africa 189–2 (33.1 overs)
Aamir Sohail 46 (73) Craig Matthews 3/19 (8 overs)		Andrew Hudson 94 * (86) Hansie Cronje 1/23 (4 overs)

South Africa won by 8 wickets Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah, U.A.E. Umpires: B.C. Cooray (Sri Lanka) and Mervyn Kitchen (England) Player of the match: Craig Matthews (South Africa)

• South Africa won the toss and chose to bat

17 April Scorecard

India  215–8 (50 overs)	v	South Africa 216–5 (47.1 overs)
Ajay Jadeja 71 * (69) Paul Adams 3/30 (10 overs)		Daryll Cullinan 64 * (100) Venkatapathy Raju 3/38 (10 overs)

South Africa won by 5 wickets Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah, U.A.E. Umpires: B.C. Cooray (Sri Lanka) and Mervyn Kitchen (England) Player of the match: Paul Adams (South Africa)

• South Africa won and chose to bat

Final

19 April Scorecard

South Africa  287–5 (50 overs)	v	India 249–9 (50 overs)
Gary Kirsten 115 (142) Anil Kumble 2/42 (10 overs)		Sachin Tendulkar 57 (71) Hansie Cronje 1/23 (4 overs)

South Africa won by 38 runs Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah, U.A.E. Umpires: B.C. Cooray (Sri Lanka) and Mervyn Kitchen (England) Player of the match: Gary Kirsten (South Africa)

• South Africa won and chose to bat

Records and awards

South African opening-batsman Gary Kirsten was the top run-scorer of the tournament, amassing 356 runs in 7 innings at an average of 89, with two centuries and one fifty.^[3] He was named the player of the series. Pakistani captain Aamir Sohail was the second-highest run getter, scoring 240 runs at an average of 60.^[3]

South African fast-bowler Fanie de Villiers took the most number of wickets, taking 10 wickets at an average of 19.20.^[4] Indian leg-spin bowler Anil Kumble followed with a haul of 8 wickets at an average of 26.50.^[4]

References