8 Best matches from the Cricket World Cup

# 3 Australia Def West Indies - 1996 World Cup

During the 1980s the West Indies were the most dominant cricketing team on the planet, however by the 1990s their power had begun to fade as the old generation retired and a new generation came to the fore. At the same time, Australian cricket was on the way up starting with a series win over the West Indies in 1994-95.

Australia was led by their captain Mark Taylor, but also included the likes of Ricky Ponting, Glen McGrath, Shane Warne, Michael Bevan, and both the Waugh brothers. Many of those players were in their first World Cup. The West Indies had an ageing team featuring the likes of Richie Richardson, Curtly Ambrose, Phil Simmonds, Ian Bishop, and Courtney Walsh. However, they also included the likes of Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul who would lead the Windies team into their next generation of talent.

The West Indies removed the opening four Australian batsmen cheaply with Ambrose getting Mark Waugh and Ricky Ponting LBW for ducks, while Ian Bishop bowled Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh for 1 and 3 runs respectively. After 9 overs, the Australians found themselves 4 wickets down with only 15 runs on the board. Stuart Law and Michael Bevan got the Australians back into the game with a partnership of 138 runs, and Ian Healy chipped in with a handy 31 runs. Australia posted a score of 207 off their 50 overs.

The West Indies would start well, but 6 overs in Shane Warne would remove Courtney Browne, catching the opener off his own bowling. Lara then joined Chanderpaul at the crease and the two began dismantling the Australian attack, adding almost 70 runs before Lara was bowled by Steve Waugh 5 runs short of his half-century. With roughly 10 overs to go, the West Indies were only 2 wickets down and required only 43 runs to win the match. However, after Chanderpaul was finally dismissed getting caught at mid on by Damien Fleming the Australians picked up a succession of quick wickets.

Harper, Gibson, Adams, Arthurton, Bishop, Ambrose, and finally Courtney Walsh were removed without a single one of them scoring above 3 runs and leaving their captain Richie Richardson stranded at the non-strikers end on 49 not out. The West Indies would be bowled out for 202, leaving them 6 runs short of the 208 run target set by Australia. The West Indies were dismissed with 3 balls left to spare in the innings.