1996 Cricket World Cup was played in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. India hosted 17 matches at 17 venues, while Pakistan hosted 16 at six venues and Sri Lanka organized four matches at three venues. Controversies started even just before the tournament could begin. Followed by some political tensions in Sri Lanka, Australia and West Indies refused to send teams to the island country.
All the Test-playing nations took part in the tournament. It also featured the three Associate teams who qualified through ICC Trophy- Â the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, and the Netherlands.
The Journey Begins
Group A was shared by Sri Lanka, Australia, India, West Indies, Zimbabwe, and Kenya. Sri Lanka won all the matches and topped the table followed by Australia, India, and West Indies. Australia and West Indies matches were forfeited as the venue was in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka won them by walkover.
Group B had South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand, England, UAE, and the Netherlands. South Africa along with Pakistan, New Zealand, and England qualified for the knock-out stage. The match between the Netherlands and UAE was the first official one day match between two ICC associates teams.
The Journey to Finale
Sri Lanka continued their good showing in the quarter-final as well and beat England.  A 44-ball 82 by Sanath Jayasurya helped the Lankans to chase the target of 236 was chased in 40 overs. India Pakistan saw Indian winning yet another World Cup match against the arch-rivals. The other two matches saw two daunting teams of yesteryears’ West Indies and Australia coming out victorious.
Sri Lanka and India faced each other for the first semi-final at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Sri Lanka lost both their openers in the first over and started to craw on 35-3. But Aravinda de Silva’s 66 off 47 with the support from the lower order finally set 251/8 in 50 overs. After a decent start, Indians were soon 120/8. The crowd went mad. They were furious and started throwing bottles at the ground. So the match was abandoned and awarded to Sri Lanka.
The second semi-final saw Australia coming back strongly after the initial debacle. While the entire top order failed to score double digits, Stuart Law (72) and Michael Bevan (69) took the charge. Australia finished with 207/8. In response, Shivnarine Chanderpaul (80), Brian Lara (45), and Richie Richardson (49) tried to chase it down. But the lower order collapse made the Aussies win it by five wickets with just three balls remaining.
The Final
Finally, Sri Lanka and Australia met each other in the final. Â It was a neutral venue at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore in Pakistan. Till then no team had ever won a world cup final batting second. Till then no host country won the World Cup as well.
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field first. Australia put up a score of 241 with as captain Mark Taylor (74) and young Ricky Ponting (45). Aravinda de Silva took three wickets and just gave a glimpse of what was coming next.
In reply, the Lankans started by losing two quick wickets. The openers were gone with the scoreboard showing 23/2. De Silva joined the show and majestic unbeaten 107 scored by Aravinda de Silva overshadowed all the initial failures. Â Asanka Gurusinha was brilliant with his 65. Later Arjuna Ranatunga contributed with a 37-ball 47. The way de Silva was playing it was almost just a matter of time for Sri Lanka to win their maiden title.
Sri Lanka finally won the match by seven wickets with 22 balls remaining. The interesting part was that the Sri Lankan team was totally dominant in that tournament. They were unbeaten. The credit must be given to the coach of the Sri Lankan team, David Whatmore. The team management came up with the formula of utilizing the fielding restriction in the first 15 overs. The dynamic opening duo of Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana, although failed in the final match did the needful in most cases. Yes, there were forfeited match points but in all other matches, Sri Lanka proved why they should be the winner.
World Cup Flashback : 1996 Final
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