Recap: 1999 Cricket World Cup

The 1999 Cricket World Cup was co-hosted by England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales & Netherlands. This World Cup saw Scotland & Bangladesh make their debut in the tournament.

The teams were divided into two groups with Group A comprising of India, South Africa, England, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka & Kenya, and Group B comprising of Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, West Indies, Bangladesh & Scotland.

The top 3 teams from each group qualified for the Super Six stage. South Africa, India & Zimbabwe from Group A and Pakistan, Australia & New Zealand from Group B qualified for the Super Six stage.

In the Super Six stage, the points scored by one team against another qualified team from the same group from the previous stage were carried forward & the team played one match each against the 3 teams from the other group. The top four teams in this stage qualified for the semi-finals. This stage saw Pakistan, Australia, South Africa & New Zealand qualify for the semi-finals.

In the first semi-final, Pakistan defeated New Zealand by 9 wickets. The second semi-final between Australia & South Africa ended in a tie, but Australia qualified for the finals because they were higher placed on the table than South Africa in the Super Six stage.

The finals saw Pakistan setting a target of 133 runs for the Aussies. The Aussies scored the required runs in 20.1 overs. They became the second team in the history of the World Cup after the West Indies to win the tournament twice. This was also the lowest scoring finals in the history of the World Cup.

Lance Klusener of South Africa was named the Player of the Tournament.

Some of the key performances from the tournament are mentioned below.

Batting performances:

373/6 by India against Sri Lanka was the highest team total in the 1999 World Cup.

461 runs scored by Rahul Dravid of India were the most number of runs scored by a player in the 1999 World Cup.

183 scored by Sourav Ganguly of India against Sri Lanka was the highest individual score by a player in the tournament.

11 centuries were scored in the 1999 World Cup. These were scored by Sourav Ganguly of India (183), Rahul Dravid of India (145 & 104*), Sachin Tendulkar of India (140*), Neil Johnson of Zimbabwe (132*), Steve Waugh of Australia (120*), Saeed Anwar of Pakistan (113* & 103), Mark Waugh of Australia (104), Herschelle Gibbs of South Africa (101) & Ajay Jadeja of India (100*).

4 half-centuries scored by Jacques Kallis of South Africa were the most number of half-centuries scored by a player in the 1999 World Cup.

Bowling performances:

20 wickets taken by Geoff Allott of New Zealand & Shane Warne of Australia each were the most number of wickets taken by a player in the 1999 World Cup.

5/14 by Glenn McGrath of Australia against West Indies was the best bowling performance by a player in the 1999 Cricket World Cup.

6 five-wicket hauls were taken in the 1999 World Cup. These were taken by Glenn McGrath of Australia (5/14), Lance Klusener of South Africa (5/21), Venkatesh Prasad of India (5/27), Robin Singh of India (5/31), Saqlain Mushtaq of Pakistan (5/35) & Shaun Pollock of South Africa (5/36).

Wicketkeeping performances:

16 dismissals by Moin Khan of Pakistan were the most number of dismissals by a wicket-keeper in the 1999 World Cup.

5 dismissals by Nayan Mongia of India against Zimbabwe & by Ridley Jacobs of West Indies against New Zealand were the most dismissals by a wicket-keeper in an innings in the 1999 World Cup.

Fielding performances:

8 catches taken by Daryll Cullinan of South Africa were the most number of catches taken by a player in the 1999 World Cup.

3 catches taken by Graham Thorpe of England against Sri Lanka, Nathan Astle of New Zealand against Australia, Ian Philip of Scotland against Bangladesh, Ricky Ponting of Australia against Bangladesh, Stuart Williams of West Indies against Scotland & Andy Whittall of Zimbabwe against South Africa were the most number of catches taken by a player in a single match at the 1999 World Cup.