A view from the Gully (3 June 1999)
The unceremonious exit of the 1996 World Cup Champions Sri Lanka is a very painful aspect of the first round matches of 1999 World Cup
03-Jun-1999
3 June 1999
A view from the Gully
Tawfiq Aziz Khan
The unceremonious exit of the 1996 World Cup Champions Sri Lanka is a
very painful aspect of the first round matches of 1999 World Cup. Sri
Lanka were a ghost of their former self and could manage only two
wins against Zimbabwe and Kenya. Three times runners up (1979,1983 &
1992) hosts England, after three wins under their belt, lost to India
in a do or die battle and were thrown out of the competition.
The unpredictable West Indians had to bow out despite machinations of
the Australians to keep the Kiwis out of the Super Six. Their scheme
backfired as the black caps overpowered the Scotsmen in a thrilling
encounter. Kenya, Scotland and Bangladesh were not favourites to book
a place in the second stage but surprisingly enough the ICC Champions
brought off two spectacular wins against Scotland and a powerful
Pakistan.
Though Pakistan's defeat to Bangladesh did not matter much to the
losers because they were already through to the Super Six, it was a
tremendous victory for the Bengal Tigers and a major upset in the
competition. This has worked as a wakeup call for Pakistan who were
reminded not to underestimate an enemy however weak he may appear.
For Bangladesh this victory was a much needed shot in the arm for the
forward march of cricket which has by now established itself as the
most popular game in the country.
The Super Sixes stage gets underway tomorrow with India taking on
Australia at The Oval. This is going to be a 'finish unto death.'
Both teams start from a scratch as they have no points from the first
round. And to reach the semifinals stage they have to win all three
matches they are to play. But that will not be possible for both
teams. So, one will have to bow out.
India have not only a very strong batting line up on paper but in
practice also. They have never scored anything under 200 and are in
fact the only team to have scored more than 300 on two occasions.
Their 373 against Sri Lanka is still the highest total in this
tournament. To the credit of their batsmen goes the four centuries
scored by Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly and two consecutive tons
by Rahul Dravid. Between Saurav and Rahul they hold the world record
of 318 runs for any wicket. Barring Mohanty, Prasad and Srinath, all
the other eight can bat competently and that can cause concern for
their opponents.
Australia's performance in this World Cup with such a specialist
one-day outfit is far from satisfactory. Their batsmen are struggling
for runs and bowlers have to be penetrating to dent the strong Indian
batting. But the silver lining for them is the sudden return to form
by Adam Gilchrist, their main bowler Glenn McGrath and spinner Shane
Warne.
Most well-placed in the two groups are Pakistan and, strangely
enough, Zimbabwe who have four points each from the first round -
Pakistan from wins over Australia and New Zealand and Zimbabwe from
India and South Africa. So, if these two teams win a match each they
will be through to the semis.
New Zealand and South Africa have two points each against Australia
and India respectively and will have to win two matches each for a
semifinal berth. So all the matches in this round will be crucial for
all the six teams. There is hardly any room for complacency for any
team and that has been unmistakably proved by Zimbabwe and
Bangladesh.
All the six have tasted defeat - Australia, New Zealand, India and
Zimbabwe two defeats each while Pakistan and South Africa, the
favourites one each.
So it's going to be another nine days of top class cricket. Fasten
your seat belt. You are about to take off.
Source :: The Daily Star