The 1992 Cricket World Cup (Benson & Hedges World Cup)


was the fifth
edition of the tournament and was held from 22 February to 25 March
1992 in Australia and New Zealand. Sponsored by Benson and Hedges, it
was won by Pakistan, who defeated England in the final.
The 1992 World Cup was the first to feature coloured player clothing,
white cricket balls and black sightscreens with a number of matches
being played under floodlights. These innovations had been
increasingly used in One Day Internationals since World Series Cricket
introduced them in the late 1970s, but they were not a feature of the
first four World Cups.The 1992 World Cup was also the first to be held
in Southern hemisphere. It was also the first World Cup to include the
South Africa national cricket team, which had been allowed to re-join
the International Cricket Council as a Test-playing nation after the
end of apartheid.
The format was changed from previous tournaments in that a complete
round robin replaced the use of two qualifying groups. The initial
draw was released with eight competing countries and 28 round robin
matches. In late 1991, South Africa were re-admitted to the
International Cricket Council and the draw was amended to include
them. The revised draw included 36 round robin matches plus the two
semi-finals and the final.
The rule for calculating the target score for the team batting second
in rain-affected matches was also changed. The previous rule simply
multiplied the run rate of the team batting first by the number of
overs available to the team batting second. This rule was deemed to be
too much in favour of the team batting second. In an attempt to
rectify this, the target score would now be calcuated by the "highest
scoring overs" formula. In this system, if the team batting second had
44 overs available, their target score would be one greater than the
44 highest scoring overs of the team batting first. While the
reasoning behind the system was sound, the timing of rain
interruptions remained problematic: as the semi-final between England
and South Africa demonstrated, where a difficult but eminently
reachable 22 runs off 13 balls was reduced to 22 off 7 (the least
productive over, a maiden, being deducted) and finally 21 off 1 ball
(the next least productive over having given 1 run). It was seen that,
if the interruption came during the second innings, the side batting
second was at a significant disadvantage - one which was only overcome
once, in fact, in England's group-stage victory over South Africa.

Final Highlights:

1987 World Cup final was played between Pakistan and England. The
final will be remembered by all Pakistanis as they saw two of their
greatest cricketers, Imran Khan and Javed Miandad, perform superbly as
they set a target of 250, which proved too much for England to chase.
The final began with eerie resemblances to same fixture earlier in the
tournament when England bowled out Pakistan for a paltry 74, as Derek
Pringle dismissed both Pakistani openers at 24. However, Imran Khan
and Javed Miandad settled down to see off the new ball. A crucial
moment occurred when Imran Khan was dropped by Graham Gooch at 9 runs.
He later went on to score a match-winning 72. At the 25 over mark,
Pakistan had only scored 70, but accelerated the score to 139 by the
31st over as Javed Miandad summoned a runner and Imran and him built a
steady partnership. During his innings, Imran Khan hit a huge six off
Richard Illingworth that landed far back into the members section.
Imran went onto score 72 and Miandad 58 to steady the innings,
expectedly followed by an onslaught from Inzamam (42) and Wasim Akram
(35) enabling Pakistan to give England a fighting target of 250.
England's start was shaky. Ian Botham was dismissed for a duck by
Wasim Akram, followed by Stewart, Hick and Gooch, which left England
tumbling at 69/4. A solid partnership of 71 between Allan Lamb and
Neil Fairbrother left Imran with no choice but to give an early second
spell to his main pacer Wasim Akram in the 35th over. The decision
wrote the fate of the match. Two magical deliveries from the great
left arm fast bowler showed Allan Lamb and the dangerous Chris Lewis
the pavilion door. Soon Fairbrother was caught by Moin Khan off Aaqib
Javed to seal England's last hope. When the cards were laid down,
Captain Imran Khan had the last laugh when Derek Pringle was caught by
Ramiz Raja off his delivery to finish off the final and deservedly
crown Pakistan World Champions of cricket.

Tournament Highlights:

In 1992 World cup, Fielding skills were redefined by South African
fielder Jhonty Rhodes. In their League match against Pakistan, SA
scored 211/7 in their allotted 50 overs.When Pakistan was 74/2 after
21.3 overs, rain halted the play for an hour and the target was
revised to 194 in 36 overs. Pakistan was in driving seat at 135/2 in
30 overs as Inzamam was playing well constructed knock. In 31st Over,
ball went to fine leg, after hitting Inzamam's leg. Inzy and Imran
Khan completed 2 runs & Inzy set off for the third, which was rejected
by Imran Khan. In the nick of time, Rhodes came running from Deep
Backward point, fielded the ball and surprisingly jumped on to the
stumps.As a result, Inzy was run-out for 48 and Pakistan collapsed to
173/8 in 36 overs. Rhodes fielding skills not only won the match for
SA, but also redefined fielding.