World Cup 1996
The 1996 Cricket World Cup was won by Sri Lanka who beat Australia by 7
wickets at the final in Lahore.The 1996 World Cup was played in India,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka.Three teams made their World Cup debuts in 1996:
the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands and Kenya. The Netherlands lost
each of their five matches while the U.A.E. only beat the Dutch. Kenya,
however, recorded a surprise victory over the West Indies in Pune.
The Sri Lankans, coached by Dav Whatmore and captained by Arjuna
Ranatunga, used Player of the Tournament Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh
Kaluwitharana as opening batsmen to take advantage of the fielding
restrictions during the first 15 overs of each innings.Sri Lanka won the
first semi-final over India at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in front of a crowd
estimated at 100,000. Chasing Sri Lanka's innings of 251 for 8, India had
slumped to 120 for 8 in the 35th over when sections of crowd began to
throw fruit and plastic bottles onto the field. The players left the
field for 20 minutes in an attempt to quieten the crowd. When the players
returned for play, more bottles were thrown onto the field and fires were
lit in the stand. Match referee Clive Lloyd awarded the match to Sri
Lanka, the first default ever in a Test or One-day international.
In the second semi-final in Mohali, Australia recovered from 15 for 4 to
reach 207 for 8 from their 50 overs. The West Indians had reached 165 for
2 in the 42nd over before losing their last 8 wickets for 37 runs in 50
balls.
Sri Lanka won the toss in the final and sent Australia in to bat despite
the team batting first having won all five previous World Cup finals.
Mark Taylor top scored with 74 in Australia's total of 241 for 7. After
Australia had put down no fewer than five catches, Sri Lanka won the
match in the 47th over with Aravinda de Silva following his 3 for 42 with
an unbeaten 107 to win the Player of the Match award.
