Forgotten, but Significant Cricket World Cup Performances

No stage in the world of cricket is as big as the World Cup and if someone makes it big here, his place in the history books is more or less secure. And more often than not, that is the case. But on some occasions, the contribution of a player or that of a partnership gets overshadowed by some other act of brilliance that appeals more to the viewer and therefore grabs most of the headlines. For example if Pakistan’s triumph in the 1992 World Cup is the topic of discussion then a large part of it will revolve around Imran Khan’s inspirational captaincy or Wasim Akram’s lethal swing bowling and the invaluable cameos played by Akram and Inzamam-ul Haq in the final against England. There’s a high probability that Inzamam’s match winning knock in the semi-final might not even be mentioned. This is an attempt to rewind back to some of those players and performances that might were overshadowed by something bigger and more spectacular, but every one of them had and still has its weight in gold.

Mike Veletta vs England, 1987 final

Mike Veletta plays a sweep in the 1987 World Cup final

Mike Veletta is not a name many people would remember. But his contribution to Australia’s first World Cup win is as much as anyone else’s. In the final at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Australia were looking at a total of something around 230 when Veletta joined Allan Border. Veletta had chipped in with an important 48 in the semi-final, and once again he looked to be in the groove, picking up the gaps with surgical precision. He and Border put together 73 in just 10 overs before Veletta departed for 45. Those runs came off just 31 deliveries and it enabled Australia to breach the 250-run barrier and gave them a psychological advantage over their opponents. England were on track for most of the chase, but poor shot selection from Mike Gatting and an excellent 49^th over from Steve Waugh took Australia to the title.

Inzamam-ul Haq vs New Zealand, 1992 semi-final

Inzamam turns one into the on side during his 37-ball 60

This innings proved to the world that Inzamam was a special player. An in-form New Zealand side had set Pakistan a target of 263 in the semi-final at Eden Park in Auckland. A Pakistan victory seemed highly unlikely after 35 overs as they still needed 123 to win at 8.2 runs an over. Enter an 18-year old Inzamam and he turns the match upside down. Pakistan needed something special and they had that as Inzamam went berserk. A 37-ball 60 changed the entire complexion of the game. The fielders and the Kiwi crowd were stunned. Off spinner, Dipak Patel who had given away just 28 runs in his first eight overs was taken for 22 off his final two. Inzamam shared an 87-run stand with Javed Miandad in just 10 overs. He departed with Pakistan still needing 30 in five overs. A few hefty blows from Moin Khan did the trick and Pakistan marched into the final.

Michael Bevan and Steve Waugh vs South Africa, 1999 semi-final

Michael Bevan cuts during his knock of 65

This is one of the greatest ODIs to have ever been played in the history of cricket. A match remembered for Shane Warne’s magic with the ball, Lance Klusener’s brilliant fight back and an incredible mix-up between Allan Donald and Klusener that led to a tie and ensured a spot in the final for Australia. But all of that might not have been possible had Bevan not combined with skipper Steve to help Australia to a decent total. The Aussies were in all sorts of trouble at 68 for 4 when the duo got together. Allan Donald and co were on fire but Bevan and Waugh stood firm for a little over 22 overs and put together 90 precious runs for the fifth wicket. Waugh finally fell for 56, caught behind off Shaun Pollock. Bevan was not done yet and he kept going. He slowly supped the ante in the final overs to try and push the scoring rate beyond four an over. Bevan stayed there till the end and was the last man to be dismissed in the 50^th over of the innings on 65. Australia set South Africa a target of 214. What happened thereafter is history.

Collis King vs England, 1979 final

Collis King in action in the 1979 final

The final of the 1979 World Cup is famous for Viv Richards’ brilliant 138. But in the first part of his innings, he was completely overshadowed by Collis King. Walking into a tricky situation at 99 for 4, King decided to counter attack and he did it in style. Richards was more than happy to stay at the non-strikers end and watch King who launched a vicious assault on the English bowlers. England came into the match with four frontline bowlers and King mainly targeted the part-timers who had to bowl the remaining 12 overs. Those overs yielded 86 runs for the Windies. King fell for 86 off just 66 deliveries, but not before he had put West Indies in the driver’s seat. Richards capitalised on the platform provided that had been set up to inflict further damage and that took West Indies to a formidable 286 which in the end proved a bit too much for the English line-up.

Stuart Law and Michael Bevan vs West Indies, 1996 semi-final

This match is remembered primarily because of the way Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne triggered an Australian fight back that led to West Indies losing their last eight wickets for just 37 runs after being 165 for 2 at one stage. But that wasn’t the first time the Aussies had to come back from behind in this match. Curtly Ambrose and Ian Bishop had reduced Australia to 15 for 4 when Law and Bevan got together and initiated a rescue operation. They were cautious against the pacers, Ambrose, Bishop and Courtney Walsh, and tried to extract as much runs as possible from the spinners Ottis Gibson and Roger Harper. Law fell for 72 after a stand of 138. Bevan followed suit in a few overs time after reaching 69. Australia reached 207 at the end of their fifty overs and that was enough to sneak past West Indies by just five runs and progress to the final.

Sandeep Patil vs England, 1983 semi-final

Sandeep Patil in action in the 1983 World Cup semi-final

Before Sandeep Patil’s brilliant innings, the first semi-final of the 1983 World Cup between India and England was pretty much in the balance. India might have won it without Patil’s efforts too, but his innings erased any sort of uncertainty. Chasing 213 in 60 overs was not considered a big issue. India’s top four thought likewise and hence they set out at their own pace. India took as many as 33 overs to reach three figures. The scoring rate, which was initially three and a half runs an over, was slowly creeping up towards five an over when Patil walked in with the score at 142 and he seemed to be in a hurry to finish the match. England skipper, Bob Willis was singled out for some special treatment as Patil smashed him for six boundaries in an over. He remained unbeaten on 51 off just 32 balls and it took India to victory with more than five overs to spare.

Joel Garner vs England, 1979 final

Joel Garner in his delivery stride

Chasing 287 was not an easy task for England in the final of the 1979 World Cup. A sluggish 129-run opening stand took them to 183 at the end of 47 overs. 104 runs in 13 overs was not going to be walk in the park despite the fact that the English side had 8 wickets in hand. In the 48^th over, Garner, who had gone wicketless in his first spell came back into the attack. The line and length he bowled was simply unplayable from the very first delivery. He bowled yorkers at will. Graham Gooch, David Gower, Wayne Larkins and Chris Old had their respective woodworks disturbed whereas Bob Taylor edged one to the keeper. In 11 balls, Garner picked up 5 wickets for just 4 runs. Colin Croft also played his part, picking up three wickets at the other end and England were shot out for 194 in 51 overs. Garner’s ended with figures of 5 for 38 and till now, he is one of only two players, the other being Gary Gilmour, to have taken a five-wicket haul in a World Cup final.

Asanka Gurusinha vs Australia, 1996 final

Gurusinha flicks one in the 1996 final

The match in which Aravinda de Silva played a once in a life-time innings to take Sri Lanka to their first World Cup title. But it was possible largely due to the support he received from Gurusinha at the initial stages of his innings. Chasing 242, the Lankans had a wobbly start, losing both their openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana with just 23 runs on the board. Aravinda walked out to the middle and set out to repair the damage along with Gurusinha at the other end. The duo shared a 125-run third-wicket that put the match back in the balance. Shane Warne received some harsh treatment from Gurusinha as he was flat-batted for a four to long-on and a six over long-on in successive deliveries. Gurusinha fell for 65 after doing an invaluable job for his team. Skipper Arjuna Ranatunga and de Silva completed the work to give the Lankans their maiden World Cup title.