Cricket World Cup History: Five heart-breaking moments in the World Cup history

#2 India vs Sri Lanka -1996 World Cup Semi-finals

The turning point in 1996 World cup semi-finals was Sachin's dismissal

The Wills World Cup in 1996, jointly hosted by India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, is one of the dark memories for Indian cricket's history. India had a balanced side for the mega event. They played well in the league stage to make it to the quarterfinals. They defended 287 runs against the arch-rivals Pakistan in a high voltage quarterfinal match to reach the semi-finals. Pakistan's legendary Javed Miandad played his last match for Pakistan on that day at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. In semi-finals, India locked horns against the tournament favourites Sri Lanka.

Captain Mohammad Azharuddin won the toss and elected to field first. The Indian bowlers put up a good show upfront jolting Lankan top order for just 35/3. However, Aravinda de Silva had other ideas. He counter-attacked Indian bowling with a half-century knock of 66 (47) runs. Later Skipper Arjun Ranatunga and Roshan Mahanama took team's total to a safe zone with a valuable 83-run partnership for the fifth wicket. A late flourish by Chaminda Vaas & Hashan Tillakaratne took Lankans to a competitive total of 251/8 in 50 overs.

In reply, the quarterfinal hero Navjot Singh Sidhu was dismissed very early in the innings. Sachin Tendulkar & Sanjay Manjrekar steadied the innings with a 90-run stand. Just when things were going smooth for the Indians, a catastrophe had hit the Team India & by the time they realized they were knocked out. Sachin’s stumping off Sanath Jayasuriya opened the floodgates and Indian batsmen fell like nine pins unable to tackle Lankan spinners. Eventually folded up for 120 runs from a commanding position of 98/1.

The shoddy performance of the team didn't go well with the enthusiastic crowd at the Eden Gardens. The incensed crowd started pelting water bottles & set some section of the stadium on fire on the live television. Unable to subdue the angered crowd, match referee declared Sri Lanka as the winners. Sri Lanka went onto win the world cup against Australia in an emphatic manner to win their maiden World cup trophy.