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Wills World Cup 1996: The Second World Cup in Asia

by Vairag
Vairag 3 Mins read
11 Cricket World Cup 1996 Facts
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Today we discuss some interesting Cricket World Cup 1996 Facts, facts that made it different. The Wills World Cup 1996 as it was called with Wills title-sponsoring the tournament, was played during February 14-March 17. The world cup saw Sri Lanka winning the World Cup for the first time. Here we talk about some of the Cricket World Cup 1996 Facts.

Cricket World Cup 1996 Facts:

1. The Wills World Cup 1996 was co-hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. This was the third World Cup outside England, and second one in Asia. Among the key Cricket World Cup 1996 facts, isn’t it?

2. The Wills World Cup 1996 was played between 12 teams in a round robin format followed by Knockouts. The teams were divided in two groups with 6 teams each with table toppers and other 3 with the maximum points going to the Quarterfinals followed by Semifinals and final.

3. The Wills World Cup 1996 had 39 matches to be played during the tournament, though two matches couldn’t happen post Australia & West Indies‘ refusal to travel to Sri Lanka. Among the rare Cricket World Cup 1996 Facts.

4. The Sri Lankan team qualified for the quarterfinals with 3 wins and 2 forfeits (by Australia & West Indies who refused to travel to Sri Lanka for their match against Sri Lanka citing Security concerns after January 1996 Bombing in a Bank in Colombo).

5. The World Cup saw Sri Lankan team opting for Sanath Jayasuriya & Romesh Kaluwitharana as opening pair. The decision paid off as the two would take benefit of the field restrictions in first 15 overs and gave their team the momentum to carry through the innings. Among the key highlights of the Cricket World Cup 1996 Facts.

6. On February 16, South Africa would score 321/2 against UAE with Gary Kirsten top-scoring with 188 not out from 159 balls. This would stay as the highest individual score in a Cricket World Cup for 19 years, before being overpassed by Chris Gayle who would score the first ever double hundred in a Cricket World Cup. Among the memorable records of the Cricket World Cup 1996 Facts.

7. On March 6, Sri Lanka scored 398/5 against Kenya. The Opening pair (Sanath– Kalu) scored 123 from first 15 overs which led to the Island Nation scoring these runs. This was by then the highest score in an ODI world cup and would stay that was till 2015 when India would score 413/5 against Bermuda. This was also the highest score in ODI Cricket till March 2006 when Australia & South Africa would play out that famous 434 chased down match. Among the unforgettable records of the Cricket World Cup 1996 Facts.

8. Sri Lanka, Australia, India and West Indies qualified for the Quarterfinals from Group A while South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand and England qualified from Group B. In the quarterfinals, Sri Lanka defeated England, India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan, West Indies defeated South Africa while Australia defeated arch-rivals New Zealand to move to semifinals.

9. The first Semifinal saw Sri Lanka playing India. Indian Captain Md Azharuddin would invite Sri Lanka to bat first on a pitch that was expected to deteriorate later, it backfired as Batting in the second innings on that would be near impossible. Moreover it saw crowd throwing bottles amid the controversy related to pitch during the Indian batting and an unfinished match would be awarded to Sri Lanka who would move to their first ever World Cup final. This was first ever match to be awarded to a team on default.

10. In the second Semifinal, Australia would recover from a 15/4 to score 207/8 and then bowl out West Indies to 202 to get a narrow win to reach the world cup finale.

11. In the final, Sri Lanka would invite Australia to bat first, and the Australian team would score 241 for 7 with Mark Taylor scoring 74. Sri Lanka, in reply, would chase down the target against the circulating myth of team batting first winning the World Cup finals. Aravinda de Silva would be the man for the Champion team in the final with an unbeaten 107 after claiming 3 wickets for 47.

These were 11 Cricket World Cup 1996 Facts, which made it interesting and memorable. Hope you liked the content, don’t forget to pen down your thoughts and questions below as comments.