5 cricketers who carried their teams at World Cups but ended the tournament with heartbreak

#2 Lance Klusener (1999 World Cup)

Lance Klusener bossed the 1999 World Cup

In 1999 in England, when big-hitting and taking the bowlers to the cleaners had not yet become a routine affair, Lance Klusener forced the world to sit up and take notice by his brutal hitting and consistency.

Many still believe that the 1999 World Cup is one of the best tournament because of the fact that the eventual winners were never clear up until the final half the finals.

By 1999, Lance Klusener had slowly established himself as an important cog in the South African wheel and during the tournament it was clear that 'Zulu' was a freak and out an out match-winner in his day. He picked up 17 wickets at an average of 20.58, and scored 281 runs, including two half-centuries, in nine games with an astounding average of 140.50. On several occasions in the tournament he came out with South Africa in a spot of bother and single-handedly bailed them out with his belligerent stroke play.

However, in what will always be remembered as one of most iconic scenes in a World Cup, Klusener stalled, stagnated and froze when it mattered the most, that is in the semi-finals against Australia. He came in with 39 runs needed off 31 balls and then clubbed 31 off 14 balls.

South Africa needed a solitary run off the final four balls and then the brain fade surfaced. He and Allan Donald botched it up as Donald took off for a non-existent single and was found short of his crease. The match was tied, South Africa knocked out as Australia had a superior run rate in the Super Sixes.

However, for his superhuman efforts, Klusener won four Man of the Match awards in the nine games during the tournament and also was the Player of the Tournament.