Hyderabad: The sixth edition of ICC Cricket World Cup was jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The month-long tournament started with a clash between New Zealand and England at Ahmedabad on February 14. India performed well in the tournament qualifying for the semifinal, but the real toast of the 1996 World Cup was Sri Lanka, the eventual champions.
12 teams participated in the mega tournament and a total of 37 matches were played. Apart from nine Full Members of ICC, three Associate Members contested in the World Cup. These three teams were Netherlands, UAE and Kenya, who went on to defeat West Indies in a group league match.
Teams were divided into two groups. Sri Lanka, Australia, India, West Indies, Zimbabwe and Kenya were in Group A while South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand, England, UAE and Netherlands were placed in Group B.
The 1996 edition is known for Arjuna Ranatunga led Sri Lanka's scintillating performances and their march to winning the World Cup. This was the World Cup that saw Sanath Jayasuriya's destructive batting that defined the role of opening batsmen in ODI cricket.
Meanwhile, India's yet another home World Cup campaign ended in the semifinal. In the 1987 World Cup, India lost to England in the semifinal.
Let's find out how India's campaign unfolded before Sri Lanka lift the world championship crown.
India vs Kenya, Cuttack, 1st Match
Talking point: It was the sixth match of the 1996 World Cup and India's first. Winning the toss India captain Mohammad Azharuddin decided to field first against Kenya at Cuttack on February 18. Kenyan players made their debut in the World Cups. Sachin Tendulkar scored 127, his maiden ton in the World Cup. The opening duo of Ajay Jadeja and Tendulkar built a 163-run partnership to make it a lopsided affair after Kenya posted 199 for 6 in 50 overs.
Sachin Tendulkar against Kenya Steve Tikolo was the highest scorer for Kenya, with 66. Anil Kumble took 3 wickets while Venkatapathy Raju got 2. India won the match by 7 wickets with 49 balls remaining.
Later, the Kenya team would go on to rock the 1996 World Cup beating West Indies in Pune on February 29.
Result: India beat by Kenya seven wickets
India vs West Indies, Gwalior, 2nd Match
Talking point: In the second match, India faced West Indies at Gwalior on February 21. Indian bowlers had effected another clinical performance bowling West Indies out for 173. Anil Kumble and Manoj Prabhakar took 3 wickets apiece while Javagal Srinath picked up 2 wickets. Captain Richie Richardson scored 47 for the West Indies.
Sachin's performance against West Indies In reply, India got off to a poor start but Sachin Tendulkar's 70 helped them to chase down the target in the 40th over. Azharuddin and Vinod Kambli scored 32 and 33 respectively. Roger Harper and Curtly Ambrose took 2 wickets each for West Indies.
Result: India beat West Indies by five wickets
India vs Australia, Mumbai, 3rd Match
Talking point: After two back to back wins India suffered a loss to Australia in their third outing in the 1996 World Cup at Mumbai on February 27. Riding on Mark Waugh's brilliant 126 Australia had set 259 runs target for India. Venkatesh Prasad and Venkatapathy Raju took 2 wickets each while Anil Kumble got one. In this match, Indian fielders had effected five run-outs as Australia were bowled out for 258.
Mark Waugh scored 126 against India Sachin Tendulkar once again batted well scoring 90 while Sanjay Manjrekar played a knock of 62 runs. But a lower-order collapse forced India to confront a defeat. Damien Fleming scalped 5 wickets for 36 runs as India were bowled out for 242 in the 48th over.
Result: Australia beat India by 16 runs
India vs Sri Lanka, Delhi, 4th Match
Talking point: This was the World Cup for Sri Lanka. In the fourth match, when India took on Sri Lanka at Delhi on March 2, nobody expected that India would bow down to a defeat even after posting 271 for 3 on the board. Continuing his superb form Sachin Tendulkar slammed a run-a-ball 137 in this match, his second ton in the World Cup.
Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar's performances during India vs Sri Lanka group league match. But Sanath Jayasuriya's destructive batting dismantled Indian bowling attack. He targeted Manoj Prabhakar who was removed from bowling after conceding 47 runs in just 4 overs. Jayasuriya hit 79 off 76 balls while Hashan Tilakaratne scored 70 to help Sri Lanka earn a thumping six-wicket win over India. Captain Arjuna Ranatunga scored 46.
Sri Lanka chased down the target in the 49th over. Sachin's ton went in vain.
Result: Sri Lanka beat India by six wickets
India vs Zimbabwe, Kanpur, 5th Match
Talking point: In the backdrop of two back to back defeats, India took on Zimbabwe at Kanpur on March 6. This time Vinod Kambli hit 106 while Navjot Sidhu scored 80. Later Ajay Jadeja played a quickfire 27-ball 44 runs knock to help India post 247 for 5 at the end of 50 overs.
Jadeja later picked up two crucial wickets of Alistair Campbell and Craig Evans while Venkatapathy Raju bamboozled three Zimbabwe batsmen as they were bowled out for 207 in the 50 over. Srinath and Kumble also took two wickets each in this match.
India bounced back in the tournament winning the match by 40 runs and qualified for the quarterfinals.
Result: India beat Zimbabwe by 40 runs
Quarterfinal - India vs Pakistan, Bengaluru
Talking point: In a high-octane second quarterfinal, India took on archrivals Pakistan at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on March 9. This match is famous for a duel between Aamer Sohail and Venkatesh Prasad which later became folklore in the India-Pakistan World Cup rivalry.
Navjot Sidhu scored 93 against Pakistan in the 1996 World Cup quarterfinal. After hitting Prasad through the cover for a boundary, Sohail gestured at him to send his next delivery through the same area. But in the very next delivery, Prasad took revenge uprooting the off stump of the Pakistani batsman. It was a much-needed breakthrough and it came against the run of the play.
The great duel between Aamer Sohail and Venkatesh Prasad Before Sohail's dismissal, Pakistan were just one down for 113 while chasing 288. But as Sohail departed scoring 55 Indian bowlers turned around the match in their favour taking wickets in regular interval. Earlier, Saeed Anwar was dismissed for 48. Miandad, who was playing his last ODI, scored 38. He was Pakistan's last hope in the match but his fine innings was cut short by a brisk throw.
Prasad and Kumble took 3 wickets each. Sindhu was the highest scorer for India, with 93 while Ajay Jadeja scored 45 off 25 balls. He hit four sixes of Waqar Younis during his knock.
For the second successive time, India defeated Pakistan in the World Cup.
Result: India beat Pakistan by 39 runs
Semifinal - India vs Sri Lanka, Kolkata
Talking point: The first semifinal of the 1996 World Cup was full of chaos. India took on Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens on March 13. In reply to Sri Lanka's 251, India were at a good position with Sachin Tendulkar playing a sensible knock at a difficult pitch. It was not easy to score. As Sachin was posing threat to the Sri Lankans, Sanath Jayasuriya, who could score only 1 run in the match, took the most important wicket sending the Indian batsman back to the pavilion.
Sachin Tendulkar celebrates after completing his fifty against Sri Lanka in the semifinal. As Sachin departed, Indian innings lost the track. Wickets started tumbling which enraged Eden Gardens' capacity crowd. Angry fans lit newspapers and threw missiles to the ground. The situation had gone out of control. Vinod Kambli, who was batting at 10, couldn't do anything but walked back with tears streaming down his cheeks.
Crowd went berserk at Eden Gardens as India failed to beat Sri Lanka in the semifinal. Since India were reduced to 120 for 8, match referee Clive Lloyd declared Sri Lanka the winners.
Earlier, Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin won the toss and decided to bowl first. Sri Lanka got off to a nightmarish start as they had lost two wickets for just 1 run. They were soon reduced to 35 for 3. Javagal Srinath was the bowler in all three occasions. But half-centuries by Aravinda de Silva and Roshan Mahanama steadied their innings. Captain Ranatunga (35) and Hashan Tilakaratne (32) ensured that their bowlers have enough runs to defend.
Result: Sri Lanka won by default
The Final
In the summit clash of the 1996 World Cup, Sri Lanka took on Australia at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on March 17. While Sri Lanka defeated India in the first semifinal, Australia got better of West Indies in the second semifinal at Mohali. In the final, Sri Lanka thrashed Mark Taylor's Australia by 7 wickets to lift their maiden World Cup title. Batting first Australia scored 241 for 7. Taylor top-scored for Australia, with 74.
1996 World Cup final MoM awardee Aravinda de Silva In reply, Sri Lankan middle-order once again performed brilliantly. While Asanka Gurusinha played a 65-run innings and captain Arjuna Ranatunga scored 47.
Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga with the 1996 World Cup trophy But the hero of the final was Aravinda de Silva who scored unbeaten 107 and took 3 wickets to power Sri Lanka to the victory. de Silva was adjudged Man of the Match. Sanath Jayasuriya won the Man of the Series award for scoring 221 runs and taking 7 wickets.
