Hyderabad: South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya hosted ICC Cricket World Cup number eight, which was held from February 9 to March 23 2003.
14 teams participated in the World cup and Canada, Holland, Namibia, Kenya were considered the minnows of the tournament. It is also noteworthy that this was the first time when 14 teams participated in CWC.
52 matches (2 forfeited) were played before Australian cricket team defended their WC title and in the process completed the hat trick of World cup victories.
Australia team celebrating after lifting 2003 WC. The 14 teams were divided into two groups.
Group A consisted of Australia, India, England, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Netherlands and Namibia.
Pool B consisted of West Indies, Sri Lanka, Kenya, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and Bangladesh.
Upsets:
There were not many upsets in 2003 World cup barring Kenya reaching the semi-final of the tournament courtesy of wins over Canada, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. During the group stage, Kenya qualified for the Super Sixes after New Zealand refused to play in Nairobi.
Zimbabwe also somehow huffed and puffed their ways into the Super six of the tournament following England's boycott of Harare and the points they got in the abandoned match against Pakistan.
However, Zimbabwe's every move was overshadowed due to their internal politics.
Super Six:
Australia, India, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Kenya, and New Zealand were six teams that reached the Super Six stage of the mega event.
Semi-finalist:
The might Australian reached the semifinals by defeating Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Kenya by 96 runs, 96 runs and five wickets respectively.
India reached the semi-finals with win over Kenya, Sri Lanka and New Zealand by six wickets, 183 runs and seven wickets respectively.
Sri Lanka qualified for the next stage by defeating Zimbabwe by 74 runs. Kenya also thrashed Zimbabwe to reach the semi-final.
Finalist:
The favourites Australians survive a few easy moments to defeat Sri Lanka via D/L method to become the first finalist of the tournament.
Sourav Ganguly smashed his third century against Kenya in the semi-final as India beat a keen Kenyan side to reach the final.
The final:
"No one believed that Australia would lose the World Cup" and they proved why in the grand final against Sourav Ganguly-led India.
Ricky Ponting and Sourav Ganguly during 2003 WC final match toss. In 2003 World Cup final, first Aussie openers Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist gave their side a blistering start by adding 105 runs in 14 overs then their skipper Ricky Ponting walked to bat at number three and hammered Indian bowlers all over the park.
Ponting smashed unbeaten 140 runs off 121 balls and in the process crushed India's hope to lift another WC trophy as the Oz team posted a mammoth total of 359 runs for the loss of two wickets in their allotted fifty overs. In the reply, Team India was bowled out for 234 runs in 39.2 overs. Virender Sehwag was the top scorer for India with 82 runs off 81 balls.
Most Runs Scored (by an individual): Sachin Tendulkar of India with 673 runs.
Most wickets taken (by an individual): Chaminda Vaas of Sri Lanka with 23 wickets.
Highest Individual Score: Craig Wishart (172 off 151 balls) of Zimbabwe against Namibia.
Best Bowling Figures: Glenn McGrath (7/15 in 7 overs) of Australia against Namibia.
Major Controversies:
Legendary Australian spinner Shane Warne was sent back home just a day before the start of Oz team's World Cup campaign after a positive drug test. However, Warne claimed that he had taken "fluid pill'. Warne was later banned for one year for taking a banned diuretic.
Security issues in Zimbabwe and Kenya:
During the 2003 WC, New Zealand cricket board did not sen their players to Kenya because of recent terrorist activities. And English cricketers players decided not to play in Zimbabwe on "moral, political and contractual" grounds.
Two Zimbabwean cricketers -- Andy Flower and Henry Olonga -- were seen wearing a black armband in their first match. The duo was protesting against the Robert Mugabe regime "mourning the death of democracy" in "beloved Zimbabwe".
Teams:
Australia: Ricky Ponting (c), Michael Bevan, Andy Bichel, Nathan Bracken, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Jason Gillespie, Ian Harvey, Nathan Hauritz, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Darren Lehmann, Jimmy Maher, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Andrew Symonds, Shane Warne
England: Nasser Hussain (c), James Anderson, Ian Blackwell, Andrew Caddick, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Ronnie Irani, Nick Knight, Alec Stewart (wk), Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan, Craig White
India: Sourav Ganguly, Ajit Agarkar, Sanjay Bangar, Rahul Dravid (wk), Mohammad Kaif, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Dinesh Mongia, Ashish Nehra, Parthiv Patel (wk), Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Javagal Srinath, Sachin Tendulkar
India's 2003 World Cup squad Namibia: Deon Kotze (c), Jan-Berrie Burger, Louis Burger, Sarel Burger, Morne Karg (wk), Danie Keulder, Bjorn Kotze, Lennie Louw, Johannes van der Merwe, Bryan Murgatroyd, Burton van Rooi, Melt van Schoor (wk), Gerrie Snyman, Stefan Swanepoel, Rudi van Vuuren, Riaan Walters
Netherlands: Roland Lefebvre (c), Daan van Bunge, Jacob-Jan Esmeijer, Victor Grandia, Feiko Kloppenburg, Tim de Leede, Hendrik-Jan Mol, Ruud Nijman, Klaas-Jan van Noortwijk, Adeel Raja, Edgar Schiferli, Reinout Scholte (wk), Jeroen Smits (wk), Nick Statham, Luuk van Troost, Bas Zuiderent
Pakistan: Waqar Younis (c), Abdul Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Sami, Rashid Latif (wk), Saeed Anwar, Saleem Elahi, Saqlain Mushtaq, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Taufeeq Umar, Wasim Akram, Younis Khan, Yousuf Youhana
Zimbabwe: Heath Streak (c), Andy Blignaut, Alistair Campbell, Dion Ebrahim, Sean Ervine, Andy Flower (wk), Grant Flower, Travis Friend, Douglas Hondo, Dougie Marillier, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Brian Murphy, Henry Olonga, Tatenda Taibu (wk), Mark Vermeulen, Guy Whittall, Craig Wishart
Bangladesh: Khaled Mashud (c/wk), Akram Khan, Al Sahariar, Alok Kapali, Ehsanul Haque, Habibul Bashar, Hannan Sarkar, Khaled Mahmud, Manjural Islam, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mohammad Ashraful, Mohammad Rafique, Sanwar Hossain, Talha Jubair, Tapash Baisya, Tushar Imran
Canada: Joe Harris (c), Ashish Bagai (wk), Ian Billcliff, Desmond Chumney, Austin Codrington, John Davison, Nicholas de Groot, Nicholas Ifill, Davis Joseph, Ishwar Maraj, Ashish Patel, Abdool Samad (wk), Fazil Samad, Barry Seebaran, Sanjayan Thuraisingam
Kenya: Steve Tikolo (c), Joseph Angara, Aasif Karim, Hitesh Modi, Collins Obuya, David Obuya (wk), Thomas Odoyo, Maurice Odumbe, Peter Ongondo, Kennedy Otieno (wk), Brijal Patel, Ravindu Shah, Martin Suji, Tony Suji, Alpesh Vadher
New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (c), Andre Adams, Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Chris Cairns, Chris Harris, Brendon McCullum (wk), Craig McMillan, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Mathew Sinclair, Scott Styris, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent (wk)
South Africa: Shaun Pollock (c), Nicky Boje, Mark Boucher (wk), Boeta Dippenaar, Allan Donald, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Hall, Jacques Kallis, Gary Kirsten, Lance Klusener, Charl Langeveldt, Makhaya Ntini, Robin Peterson, Jonty Rhodes, Graeme Smith, Monde Zondeki
Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya (c), Russel Arnold, Marvan Atapattu, Charitha Buddhika, Aravinda de Silva, Dilhara Fernando, Pulasthi Gunaratne, Avishka Gunawardene, Mahela Jayawardene, Jehan Mubarak, Muttiah Muralitharan, Prabath Nissanka, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Hashan Tillakaratne, Chaminda Vaas
West Indies: Carl Hooper (c), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Mervyn Dillon, Vasbert Drakes, Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Ridley Jacobs (wk), Brian Lara, Jermaine Lawson, Nixon McLean, Ricardo Powell, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan
