The 1996 Cricket World Cup: 


also called the Wills World Cup after its
official sponsors, was the sixth edition of the tournament organized
by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The 1996 World Cup was played in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Controversy dogged the tournament before any games were played,
however, when Australia and the West Indies refused to send their
teams to Sri Lanka following the Central Bank Bombing by the Tamil
Tigers in January, citing security concerns. Sri Lanka, in addition to
offering maximum security to the teams, questioned the validity of
citing security concerns when the International Cricket Council had
determined it was safe. After extensive negotiations, the ICC ruled
that Sri Lanka would be awarded both games on forfeit. As a result of
this decision, Sri Lanka automatically qualified for the
quarter-finals before playing a game.
Three teams made their World Cup debuts in 1996: the United Arab
Emirates, the Netherlands and Kenya. The Netherlands lost all of their
five matches while the U.A.E. only beat the Dutch. Kenya, however,
recorded a surprise victory over the West Indies in Pune.

Tournament Overview:

The Sri Lankans, coached by Dav Whatmore and captained by Arjuna
Ranatunga, used Man of the Series Sanath Jayasuriya[1] and Romesh
Kaluwitharana as opening batsmen to take advantage of the fielding
restrictions during the first 15 overs of each innings. At a time when
50 or 60 runs in the first 15 overs was considered adequate, Sri Lanka
scored 117 runs in those overs against India, 123 against Kenya, 121
against England in the quarter-final and 86 against India in the
semi-final. Against Kenya, Sri Lanka made 398 for 5, a new record for
the highest team score in a One Day International that stood until
April 2006.Sri Lanka won the first semi-final over India at Eden
Gardens, Kolkata in front of a crowd unofficially estimated at 110
000. Chasing Sri Lanka's innings of 251 for 8, India had slumped to
120 for 8 in the 35th over when sections of crowd began to throw fruit
and plastic bottles onto the field. The players left the field for 20
minutes in an attempt to quieten the crowd. When the players returned
for play, more bottles were thrown onto the field and fires were lit
in the stand. Match referee Clive Lloyd awarded the match to Sri
Lanka, the first default ever in a Test or One Day International.
In the second semi-final in Mohali, Australia recovered from 15 for 4
to reach 207 for 8 from their 50 overs. The West Indians had reached
165 for 2 in the 42nd over before losing their last 8 wickets for 37
runs in 50 balls. The tournament was won by Sri Lanka, who defeated
Australia in the final at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Punjab,
Pakistan.

Final Highlights:

1996 World Cup final was played between Srilanka and Australia. Sri
Lanka won the toss in the final and sent Australia in to bat despite
the team batting first having won all five previous World Cup finals.
Mark Taylor top scored with 74 in Australia's total of 241 for 7. .
Mark Taylor (74 from 83 balls, 8 fours, 1 six) and Ricky Ponting (45
from 73 balls, 2 fours) shared a second-wicket partnership of 101
runs. When Ponting and Taylor were dismissed, however, Australia fell
from 1/137 to 5/170 as the famed 4-pronged spin attack of Sri Lanka
took its toll. Despite the slump, Australia struggled on to 241 (7
wickets, 50 overs). After Australia had put down no fewer than five
catches, Sri Lanka won the match in the 47th over with Aravinda de
Silva following his 3 for 42 with an unbeaten 107 to win the Player of
the Match award. It was the first time a tournament host or co-host
had won the cricket World Cup.

Tournament Highlights:

The highlight 1996 World cup was league match between Windies and
Kenya. Everybody  striked off Kenya's chances to win the match. As
expected Kenya has also bundled to 166. With the lights of Lara,
Chanderpaul and Richardson, everybody thought it would be an easy
victory for Windies. But Kenya came back strongly with inspiring
bowling performance and bowled out Windies for 93. Kenya celebrated on
the strange victories of the world cups.