How the host nation fared in each ODI World Cup

The last two cricket World Cups were won by one of the co-hosts and naturally, there is an overwhelming feeling that host nations will have a better chance of winning the coveted trophy in the near future.

However, that had not always been the case and till the 1996 World Cup, no co-host or host had ever won the tournament at home. That being said, they did not do too badly either and many of them did well before falling at the semi-final stage or in fact, in the finals. Here is a look at how the hosts performed at the quadrennial showpiece from 1975 to the 2015 editions of the tournament.

#11 England, 1975

England hosted the first World Cup back in 1975 and the hosts looked in outstanding form in the group stage. In the very first game, their opening batsman Dennis Amiss scored a brutal 137 and England piled up 334 against India. They won the game by 202 runs and in the same vein, other teams in Group A, New Zealand and East Africa were also beaten handsomely as England topped the group with a 100% record.

They were to face their old enemies Australia in the semi-final but that is the game that went horribly wrong for them as Australia's Gary Gilmour took 6 for 14 at gloomy Headingley to trigger England's collapse for only 93. Although the team did respond when they got to bowl, they went down by 4 wickets.

#10 England, 1979

The 2nd edition of the World Cup in 1979 saw the hosts England dominate the group stage yet again. Clubbed with Pakistan, Australia and Canada in Group A, the hosts beat all three to go into the semi-final against New Zealand as the strongest team of the tournament.

The semi-final took place at Old Trafford and after England had scored 221, it looked like New Zealand were going to chase it down. However, Geoffrey Boycott's off-spin turned the tide fo the hosts as they eked out a 9 run win and found themselves in the final against the West Indies.

The final at Lord's, however, turned out to be a complete anti-climax as Viv Richards blasted 138 and Collis King hit a 66 balls 86 to put up 286. England's captain and opener Mike Brearley (130 balls for his 64) and Geoffrey Boycott (105 balls played for 57) were too defensive and could not score quickly enough. When England did try to force the issue, they collapsed in spectacular fashion from 183 for 2 to 191 all out as Joel Garner ran riot.

#9 England, 1983

As England hosted the third straight World Cup tournament in a row, there must have been a lot of hope among the fans that the team would finally go all the way and win the showpiece event at home. Clubbed with Pakistan, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, they topped the group once again by winning 5 out of 6 games and lost the solitary game to the Kiwis quite narrowly.

England were the firm favourites ahead of the semi-final against India at Old Trafford but after choosing to bat first, the batsmen simply could not get going and the accuracy of the medium pacers of the eventual champions proved detrimental for their batsmen. The hosts could only muster 213 in 60 overs, which India chased down in 54.4 overs for the loss of only 4 wickets, thanks to half-centuries from Yashpal Sharma and Sandeep Patil.

#8 India and Pakistan, 1987

When the World Cup finally left England, it was staged in Asia for the first time. The co-hosts India and Pakistan started off as the favourites to win the tournament. India were the defending champions, while Pakistan were one of the best teams in the world at that time. India, led by Kapil Dev, had an initial hiccup when they lost their opening game by 1 run to Australia but then won the rest of the 5 games to top Group A.

On the other hand, Pakistan did the same and emerged as the top team in Group B. Both sides were playing brilliantly and the visions of an India-Pakistan final were raised. However, both teams faltered in the semi-finals. Pakistan lost the first semi-final to Australia by 18 runs at Lahore, while India followed them by blowing up the game from a winning position against England at Mumbai to go down by 35 runs.

#7 Australia and New Zealand, 1992

The first World Cup in the Australian continent was co-hosted by the neighbours Australia and New Zealand. However, the fortunes of the two hosts couldn't have been more of a contrast. Defending champions Australia had a disappointing tournament and ended up in 5th place among all teams to end their tournament in embarrassment. However, co-hosts New Zealand, powered by Martin Crowe's innovative captaincy and superb performances from a host of players quickly became the favourites to win the title.

They started off by beating Australia in their opening and went on to win 7 out of 8 games to top the group. The only match they lost was against Pakistan and in the semi-final, at Auckland, they came up against the same opponents. They scored 262, thanks to a superb 91 from captain Martin Crowe but the fact that he could not lead them in the field in the second half proved to be a problem. Pakistan shocked the world when they chased down the target with an over to spare and Inzamam ul Haq announced himself on the world stage with an astonishing 60 off just 37 deliveries.

#6 India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, 1996

Although Sri Lanka, the eventual champions of this tournament were one of the co-hosts along with India and Pakistan, they played only 2 games at home, while the games against Australia and West Indies were awarded to them, but both teams refused to visit the strife-hit country. Sri Lanka topped Group A, while co-hosts India finished third. On the other hand, in Group B, defending champions Pakistan lost only 1 game against South Africa and finished 2nd in their group to get through to the quarter-finals.

The big two, India and Pakistan, met in the quarter-finals at Bengaluru and in that famous game, India prevailed to set up a semi-final clash against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Sri Lanka had earlier flattened England in their quarter-final game at Faisalabad. In the semi-final, Sri Lanka destroyed India and the match was abandoned due to crowd trouble after the favourites had been reduced to 120 for 8 in response to Sri Lanka's 251. Sri Lanka faced Australia in the final and famously beat the favourites yet again to complete a remarkable triumph at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. They were only technically one of the hosts and in fact, played all their knockout games outside Sri Lanka.

#5 England, 1999

The World Cup returned to England after a gap of 16 years and although other hosts included Netherlands, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, the majority of games were played in England.

However, the hosts were in a precarious position as a cricket team at the time and indeed, a pale shadow of the team that had reached three World Cup finals and bowed out at the semi-final stage twice.

Led by Alex Stewart, England started off well and in fact, beat defending champions Sri Lanka in their opening game. However, in spite of losing the same number of games as Zimbabwe and India, they finished 4th due to an inferior net run rate. It was an unfortunate exit for the home team and led to Alex Stewart's sacking.

#4 South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya, 2003

The 2003 World Cup was the first time that the tournament moved to Southern Africa and it was a roaring success. Kenya, one of the hosts, were allotted two games at Nairobi but they played most of their games in overseas venues. However, they surprised everyone by reaching the semi-final stage of the tournament and upstaged the main host South Africa, who were knocked out at the group stage. South Africa, led by Shaun Pollock were the pre-tournament favourites and even though they lost to the West Indies by 3 runs in their first game, it was looked upon as a hiccup.

They soon got into their stride but lost a game to New Zealand by the Duckworth-Lewis method but it was their last game against Sri Lanka in which they committed a blunder of epic proportions. In another rain-affected game, they miscalculated their qualifying score on the net run rate before the players went off after a spell of rain. Although South Africa won the game by Duckworth-Lewis method, they fell short due to net run rate and went out. It remains one of the most bizarre ousters in World Cup history.

#3 West Indies, 2007

When the West Indies hosted their first ever World Cup tournament, they were not one of the favourites to win the trophy but considering the fact that it was their captain Brian Lara's last appearance in the even, there was hope that the hosts would spring a surprise or two. 16 teams were placed in 4 groups of 4 teams each and West Indies were clubbed with Ireland, Pakistan and Zimbabwe in Group D.

The hosts started the tournament well and beat Pakistan by 54 runs in the first game. They went on to win all 3 games and topped their group. However, it all fell apart in the Super 8 stage. In the seven games that they played, West Indies lost 5 and won only 2 to finish 6th, ahead of Bangladesh and Ireland.

#2 India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, 2011

This was well and truly the tournament of the host nations, as India and Sri Lanka ended up contesting the final at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai at the end of it.

India emerged as the winner but Sri Lanka were equally excellent throughout the tournament. They played most of their group games in Sri Lanka and both their knockout games, against England in the quarter-final and New Zealand in the semi-final were held in Colombo.

India finished second in their group and beat Australia in the quarter-final at Ahmedabad, before dismantling arch-rivals Pakistan at Mohali to set up the summit clash between the two co-hosts. The two teams produced a pulsating final that was eventually won by India, thanks to the heroics of Gautam Gambhir and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

#1 Australia and New Zealand, 2015

When the two countries hosted the World Cup back in 1992, only New Zealand lived up to the hopes as one of the co-hosts but in 2015, both Australia and New Zealand put on a show that will always be remembered by cricket fans. More importantly, the rivals were clubbed in the same group and produced one of the great matches of the tournament when New Zealand won a low scoring game by 1 wicket at Auckland. New Zealand all their games and topped the group, while Australia finished second.

In the quarter-final, Australia beat Pakistan in a tense game at the Adelaide Oval, while New Zealand annihilated West Indies their quarter-final game by 143 runs. Both sides played their semi-final games at home. New Zealand beat South Africa in a memorable game at Auckland, which was decided in the last over whole Australia beat India at Sydney to set up the mouth-watering summit clash at Melbourne. The final, however, was a disappointment as New Zealand lost their charismatic captain in the first over and were all out for 183. Australia duly won their 5th World Cup final comfortably by a margin of 7 wickets.