The 2003 ICC cricket World Cup, which was the eighth edition of the mega tournament, took place in South Africa, with Zimbabwe and Kenya, as co-hosts, from February 9 to March 23. This was the first ever time that the tournament had been moved to Africa. The team tally for the event was also raised from 12 to 14. By now, Bangladesh were also a Test-playing nation. Apart from them, the nine Test-playing nations gathered again under one roof – Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe. The four associate members making up the final 14 were – Kenya, Canada, Namibia and Netherlands.
The format of the tournament was the same as that in 1999. This time, the 14 sides were divided into two groups of seven teams each. Each team played the other in the group once. From them, the top three teams from the two groups progressed to the super sixes. In the super sixes, each team played three matches each, with the top four making it through to the semi-finals. The points from the group stages were again carried forward into the super sixes. India’s Sachin Tendulkar (673) was the top run-scorer; Sri Lanka’s Chaminda Vaas (23) claimed most wickets.
Semi-final 1: Australiatook on Sri Lanka in the first semi-final at Port Elizabeth. The Aussies batted first, but struggled on a slow pitch, and were kept down to 212 for 7. Andrew Symonds starred for Australia with an unbeaten 91. Vaas claimed three wickets for Sri Lanka while Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda de Silva picked up two each. Australia were brilliant with the ball, and kept Sri Lanka down to 123 for 7. They were facing a revised target of 172 in 38.1 overs. Brett Lee picked up three scalps for Australia and Brad Hogg two.
Semi-final 2: India met surprise semi-finalists Kenya in the other match at Durban. It was a cakewalk for the Indians as, batting first, they posted an impressive 270 for 4 on the board. Skipper Sourav Ganguly made an unbeaten 111 from 114 balls. Sachin Tendulkar chipped in with 83, opening the innings. Kenya’s chase never got underway. They were bowled out for 179 in the 47th over as India booked their place in the finals. Zaheer Khan claimed three scalps while Ashish Nehra and Tendulkar picked up two each.
The final: The summit clash at Johannesburg was yet another disappointingly one-sided encounter. The Aussies were sent into bat by Ganguly, and they ended up plundering the Indian bowling. After openers Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist put on 105 for the opening wicket, skipper Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn tore the Indian bowling apart. Ponting smashed 8 sixes and 4 fours in an unbeaten 140 while Martyn made an unbeaten 88 from 84 balls. India lost Tendulkar to Glenn McGrath in the first over, and never recovered. Virender Sehwag made 84, but India were cleaned up for 234 as Australia won by 125 runs.
Tendulkar was declared the man of the series for his splendid batting in the event.
--By A Cricket Analyst
