 | |
| Dates | 22 February – 25 March 1992 |
|---|---|
| Administrator | International Cricket Council |
| Cricket format | One Day International |
| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin andKnockout |
| Hosts |
|
| Champions |  Pakistan (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  England |
| Participants | 9 |
| Matches | 39 |
| Player of the series |  Martin Crowe |
| Most runs | Martin Crowe (456) |
| Most wickets | Wasim Akram (18) |
←1987 1996 → | |
The1992 Cricket World Cup (known as theBenson & Hedges World Cup 1992 for sponsorship reasons) was the fifthCricket World Cup, the premierOne Day Internationalcricket tournament for men's national teams, organised by theInternational Cricket Council (ICC). It was held inAustralia andNew Zealand from 22 February to 25 March 1992, and finished withPakistan beatingEngland by 22 runs in the final to become the World Cup champions for the first time. The tournament is remembered for the controversial "rain rule".[1]
Australia and New Zealand were awarded the hosting rights in January 1989, defeating a joint India-Pakistan bid after those two nations had hosted the preceding 1987 World Cup.[2] The Australia–New Zealand bid proposed that the tournament be held in February and March 1992, at the end of the local cricket season, while the India–Pakistan bid would have seen the tournament held in late 1991.[3] The seven full members of the ICC were given two votes each in the ballot, while the 18 associate members were given one vote each.[4] The results of the ballot were not released, but the winning bid reportedly enjoyed strong support from the ICC associate members.[2]
The 1992 World Cup was the first to feature coloured player clothing, white cricket balls and black sight screens, with a number of matches being played under floodlights.[5] It was also the first Cricket World Cup to be held in theSouthern Hemisphere, and the first to includeSouth Africa, who had been allowed to re-join theInternational Cricket Council as a Test-playing nationafter the end of apartheid in 1990. For the first time, the World Cup was not held after a four-year gap, but after a five-year gap.[6]
The format was changed from previous tournaments, with a completeround-robin replacing the former two qualifying groups. The initial draw was released with eight competing countries and 28 round-robin matches, plus two semi-finals and a final. In late 1991,South Africa were re-admitted to theInternational Cricket Council after 21 years of exclusion due toapartheid, and the draw was amended to include them, adding another eight matches to the round-robin.
The rule for calculating the target score for the team batting second in rain-affected matches was also changed. The previous rule (theAverage Run Rate method) simply multiplied the run rate of the team batting first by the number of overs available to the team batting second, but this rule had been deemed to give an unfair advantage to the team batting second.
In an attempt to rectify this, the target score would now be calculated by theMost Productive Overs method. In this system, if the team batting second had 44 overs available, their target score would be one greater than the 44 highest scoring overs of the team batting first.
While the reasoning behind the system seemed plausible, the timing of rain interruptions remained problematic: as the semi-final betweenEngland and South Africa demonstrated, where a difficult but eminently reachable 23 runs off 13 balls was reduced to 23 runs off 7 (the least productive over, a maiden, being deducted) and finally, a preposterous 22 off 1 ball (the next least productive over having given 1 run). It was seen that, if the interruption came during the second innings, the side batting second was at a significant disadvantage – one which was only overcome once, in fact, in England's group-stage victory over South Africa. The farcical end to the semi-final led to the creation of theDuckworth-Lewis method.
The 1992 World Cup featured the sevenTest teams at that time.
For the first time, South Africa competed as the eighth full member of the ICC, and would play their first Test in 22 years in theWest Indies a month after the World Cup.Zimbabwe appeared for the third time, having qualified by winning the1990 ICC Trophy defeating theNetherlands in the final for the second time. Zimbabwe would gain full member status following the tournament and play their first Test match later in 1992. Teams who entered were:[7]
| Full Members |
|---|
 Australia |
| England |
 India |
| New Zealand |
| Pakistan |
 South Africa |
 Sri Lanka |
 West Indies |
| Associate Member |
 Zimbabwe |
| Venue | City | State/territory | Number of matches | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide Oval | Adelaide | South Australia | 3 | Round robin |
| Lavington Sports Oval | Albury | New South Wales | 1 | Round robin |
| Eastern Oval | Ballarat | Victoria | 1 | Round robin |
| Berri Oval | Berri | South Australia | 1 | Round robin |
| The Gabba | Brisbane | Queensland | 3 | Round robin |
| Manuka Oval | Canberra | Australian Capital Territory | 1 | Round robin |
| Bellerive Oval | Hobart | Tasmania | 2 | Round robin |
| Ray Mitchell Oval | Mackay | Queensland | 1 | Round robin |
| Melbourne Cricket Ground | Melbourne | Victoria | 5 | Round robin, Final |
| WACA Ground | Perth | Western Australia | 3 | Round robin |
| Sydney Cricket Ground | Sydney | New South Wales | 4 | Round robin, 2nd semi-final |
| Venue | City | Region | Number of matches | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eden Park | Auckland | Auckland | 4 | Round robin, 1st semi-final |
| Lancaster Park | Christchurch | Canterbury | 2 | Round robin |
| Carisbrook | Dunedin | Otago | 1 | Round robin |
| Seddon Park | Hamilton | Waikato | 2 | Round robin |
| McLean Park | Napier | Hawke's Bay | 1 | Round robin |
| Pukekura Park | New Plymouth | Taranaki | 1 | Round robin |
| Basin Reserve | Wellington | Wellington | 3 | Round robin |
Eleven umpires were selected to officiate at the World Cup: two from each of the host nations and one from each of the other participating nations.
West Indies'Steve Bucknor and England'sDavid Shepherd were chosen as the umpires for the first semi-final,[8] while New Zealand'sBrian Aldridge and Australia'sSteve Randell were chosen for the second.[9] Bucknor and Aldridge were chosen for the final.[10]
| Umpire | Country | Matches |
|---|---|---|
| Steve Bucknor | West Indies | 9 |
| Brian Aldridge | New Zealand | 9 |
| David Shepherd | England | 8 |
| Steve Randell | Australia | 8 |
| Khizer Hayat | Pakistan | 7 |
| Piloo Reporter | India | 7 |
| Dooland Buultjens | Sri Lanka | 6 |
| Peter McConnell | Australia | 6 |
| Steve Woodward | New Zealand | 6 |
| Ian Robinson | Zimbabwe | 6 |
| Karl Liebenberg | South Africa | 6 |
Twomatch referees were also selected to supervise the semi-finals and final. Australia'sPeter Burge supervised the first semi-final and the final,[8][10] while New Zealand'sFrank Cameron supervised the second semi-final.[9]
| Referee | Country | Matches |
|---|---|---|
| Peter Burge | Australia | 2 |
| Frank Cameron | New Zealand | 1 |
Co-hostsNew Zealand proved the surprise package of the tournament, winning their first seven consecutive games to finish on top of the table after the round-robin. The other hosts,Australia, one of the pre-tournament favourites lost their first two matches. They recovered somewhat to win four of the remaining six, but narrowly missed out on the semi-finals. TheWest Indies also finished with a 4–4 record, but were just behind Australia on run-rate.South Africa made a triumphant return to international cricket with a win over Australia at theSydney Cricket Ground in their first match. They andEngland had solid campaigns and easily qualified for the semis, despite upset losses toSri Lanka andZimbabwe respectively.India had a disappointing tournament and never looked likely to progress beyond the round-robin. Sri Lanka were still establishing themselves at the highest level and beat only Zimbabwe (who did not yet have Test status) and South Africa.
New Zealand were defeated only twice in the tournament. Both losses were to championsPakistan, once in the group stage and the second in the semi-final.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Zealand | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 0.592 |
| 2 | England | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 0.470 |
| 3 | South Africa | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0.138 |
| 4 | Pakistan | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 0.166 |
| 5 | Australia | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 0.201 |
| 6 | West Indies | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 0.076 |
| 7 | India | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 0.137 |
| 8 | Sri Lanka | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 5 | −0.686 |
| 9 | Zimbabwe | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2 | −1.142 |
| Team | Round-robin stage | Knockout | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | SF | F | |
| Australia | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | ||
| England | 2 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | W | L |
| India | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | ||
| New Zealand | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 14 | L | |
| Pakistan | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | W | W |
| South Africa | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 10 | L | |
| Sri Lanka | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | ||
| West Indies | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | ||
| Zimbabwe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| Won | Lost | No result |
22 February 1992 Scorecard |
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New Zealand won by 37 runs Eden Park,Auckland Umpires:Khizer Hayat andDavid Shepherd Player of the match:Martin Crowe (NZ) |
22 February 1992 Scorecard |
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England won by 9 runs WACA Ground,Perth Umpires:Dooland Buultjens andPeter McConnell Player of the match:Ian Botham (Eng) |
23 February 1992 Scorecard |
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Sri Lanka won by 3 wickets Pukekura Park,New Plymouth Umpires:Piloo Reporter andSteve Woodward Player of the match:Andy Flower (Zim) |
23 February 1992 Scorecard |
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West Indies won by 10 wickets Melbourne Cricket Ground,Melbourne Umpires:Steve Randell andIan Robinson Player of the match:Brian Lara (WI) |
25 February 1992 Scorecard |
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New Zealand won by 6 wickets Seddon Park,Hamilton Umpires:Piloo Reporter andDavid Shepherd Player of the match:Ken Rutherford (NZ) |
26 February 1992 Scorecard |
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South Africa won by 9 wickets Sydney Cricket Ground,Sydney Umpires:Brian Aldridge andSteve Bucknor Player of the match:Kepler Wessels (SA) |
27 February 1992 Scorecard |
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Pakistan won by 53 runs Bellerive Oval,Hobart Umpires:Dooland Buultjens andSteve Randell Player of the match:Aamir Sohail (Pak) |
27 February 1992 Scorecard |
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England won by 6 wickets Melbourne Cricket Ground,Melbourne Umpires:Karl Liebenberg andSteve Woodward Player of the match:Chris Lewis (Eng) |
28 February 1992 Scorecard |
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29 February 1992 Scorecard |
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New Zealand won by 7 wickets Eden Park,Auckland Umpires:Khizer Hayat andPiloo Reporter Player of the match:Mark Greatbatch (NZ) |
29 February 1992 Scorecard |
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West Indies won by 75 runs The Gabba,Brisbane Umpires:Karl Liebenberg andSteve Woodward Player of the match:Brian Lara (WI) |
1 March 1992 Scorecard |
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Australia won by 1 run (revised target) The Gabba,Brisbane Umpires:Brian Aldridge andIan Robinson Player of the match:Dean Jones (Aus) |
1 March 1992 Scorecard |
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2 March 1992 Scorecard |
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Sri Lanka won by 3 wickets Basin Reserve,Wellington Umpires:Khizer Hayat andSteve Woodward Player of the match:Arjuna Ranatunga (SL) |
3 March 1992 Scorecard |
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New Zealand won by 48 runs (revised target) McLean Park,Napier Umpires:Karl Liebenberg andDooland Buultjens Player of the match:Martin Crowe (NZ) |
4 March 1992 Scorecard |
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India won by 43 runs Sydney Cricket Ground,Sydney Umpires:Peter McConnell andDavid Shepherd Player of the match:Sachin Tendulkar (Ind) |
5 March 1992 Scorecard |
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South Africa won by 64 runs Lancaster Park,Christchurch Umpires:Brian Aldridge andSteve Randell Player of the match:Meyrick Pringle (SA) |
5 March 1992 Scorecard |
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England won by 8 wickets Sydney Cricket Ground,Sydney Umpires:Steve Bucknor andKhizer Hayat Player of the match:Ian Botham (Eng) |
7 March 1992 Scorecard |
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India won by 55 runs (revised target) Seddon Park,Hamilton Umpires:Dooland Buultjens andSteve Randell Player of the match:Sachin Tendulkar (Ind) |
7 March 1992 Scorecard |
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Australia won by 7 wickets Adelaide Oval,Adelaide Umpires:Piloo Reporter andIan Robinson Player of the match:Tom Moody (Aus) |
8 March 1992 Scorecard |
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New Zealand won by 5 wickets Eden Park,Auckland Umpires:Karl Liebenberg andPeter McConnell Player of the match:Martin Crowe (NZ) |
8 March 1992 Scorecard |
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South Africa won by 20 runs (revised target) The Gabba,Brisbane Umpires:Brian Aldridge andSteve Bucknor Player of the match:Andrew Hudson (SA) |
9 March 1992 Scorecard |
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England won by 106 runs Eastern Oval,Ballarat Umpires:Khizer Hayat andPiloo Reporter Player of the match:Chris Lewis (Eng) |
10 March 1992 Scorecard |
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West Indies won by 5 wickets (revised target) Basin Reserve,Wellington Umpires:Steve Randell andSteve Woodward Player of the match:Anderson Cummins (WI) |
10 March 1992 Scorecard |
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South Africa won by 7 wickets Manuka Oval,Canberra Umpires:Steve Bucknor andDavid Shepherd Player of the match:Peter Kirsten (SA) |
11 March 1992 Scorecard |
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Pakistan won by 48 runs WACA Ground,Perth Umpires:Karl Liebenberg andPiloo Reporter Player of the match:Aamir Sohail (Pak) |
12 March 1992 Scorecard |
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New Zealand won by 4 wickets Carisbrook,Dunedin Umpires:Peter McConnell andIan Robinson Player of the match:Mark Greatbatch (NZ) |
12 March 1992 Scorecard |
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England won by 3 wickets (revised target) Melbourne Cricket Ground,Melbourne Umpires:Brian Aldridge andDooland Buultjens Player of the match:Alec Stewart (Eng) |
13 March 1992 Scorecard |
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West Indies won by 91 runs Berri Oval,Berri Umpires:David Shepherd andSteve Woodward Player of the match:Phil Simmons (WI) |
14 March 1992 Scorecard |
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Australia won by 128 runs Bellerive Oval,Hobart Umpires:Brian Aldridge andSteve Bucknor Player of the match:Steve Waugh (Aus) |
15 March 1992 Scorecard |
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New Zealand won by 7 wickets[12] Basin Reserve,Wellington Umpires:Steve Randell andIan Robinson Player of the match:Andrew Jones (NZ) |
15 March 1992 Scorecard |
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South Africa won by 6 wickets Adelaide Oval,Adelaide Umpires:Dooland Buultjens andKhizer Hayat Player of the match:Peter Kirsten (SA) |
15 March 1992 Scorecard |
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Pakistan won by 4 wickets WACA Ground,Perth Umpires:Karl Liebenberg andPeter McConnell Player of the match:Javed Miandad (Pak) |
18 March 1992 Scorecard |
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Pakistan won by 7 wickets Lancaster Park,Christchurch Umpires:Steve Bucknor andSteve Randell Player of the match:Mushtaq Ahmed (Pak) |
18 March 1992 Scorecard |
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Zimbabwe won by 9 runs Lavington Sports Oval,Albury Umpires:Brian Aldridge andKhizer Hayat Player of the match:Eddo Brandes (Zim) |
18 March 1992 Scorecard |
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Australia won by 57 runs Melbourne Cricket Ground,Melbourne Umpires:Piloo Reporter andDavid Shepherd Player of the match:David Boon (Aus) |
In the first semi-final, Pakistan defeated tournament favourites New Zealand in a high-scoring match to win their first semi-final in four attempts and book a place in the World Cup Final for the first time. New Zealand batted first and scored 262. Their captain Martin Crowe was injured while scoring 91, and opted to letJohn Wright captain during Pakistan's innings rather than risk aggravating the injury, which was seen as a mistake in hindsight.[13] WhenInzamam-ul-Haq came in to bat, Pakistan still needed 123 from 15 overs.[14] He smashed 60 runs in 37 balls in the chase to achieve the target with one over remaining and also won the Man of the Match award.
In the second semi-final between South Africa and England, the match ended in controversial circumstances when, after a 10-minute rain delay, the most productive overs method revised South Africa's target from 23 runs from 13 balls to an impossible 22 runs from one ball. This rule was replaced for One Day International matches in Australia after the World Cup as a result of this incident, and it was eventually superseded by theDuckworth–Lewis method for the 1999 World Cup onwards. According to the lateBill Frindall, had the Duckworth–Lewis method been applied at that rain interruption, the revised target would have been four runs to tie or five to win from the final ball.[15] The Duckworth-Lewis method would also have changed the target earlier in the day, due to earlier rain interruptions.[16]
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 21 March –Eden Park,Auckland, New Zealand | ||||||
| New Zealand | 262/7 | |||||
| 25 March –Melbourne Cricket Ground,Melbourne, Australia | ||||||
| Pakistan | 264/6 | |||||
| Pakistan | 249/6 | |||||
| 22 March –Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia | ||||||
| England | 227 | |||||
| England | 252/6 | |||||
| South Africa | 232/6 | |||||
21 March 1992 Scorecard |
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Pakistan won by 4 wickets Eden Park,Auckland Umpires:Steve Bucknor (WI) andDavid Shepherd (Eng) Player of the match:Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pak) |
22 March 1992 Scorecard |
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England won by 19 runs Sydney Cricket Ground,Sydney Umpires:Brian Aldridge (NZ) andSteve Randell (Aus) Player of the match:Graeme Hick (Eng) |
25 March 1992 Scorecard |
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Pakistan won by 22 runs Melbourne Cricket Ground,Melbourne Umpires:Brian Aldridge (NZ) andSteve Bucknor (WI) Player of the match:Wasim Akram (Pak) |
In a thrilling final, Pakistan beat England by 22 runs at theMelbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).Derek Pringle took two early wickets forEngland before Imran Khan andJaved Miandad added 139 for the third wicket to steady the Pakistan innings – although both were very slow to score early on, and Imran benefited from a dropped catch just as he was trying to increase the tempo, having up to that point scored only 9 in 16 overs. He went on to score 72. At the 25 over mark, Pakistan had only scored 70, but accelerated the score to 139 by the 31st over as Javed Miandad summoned a runner, and he and Imran Khan built a steady partnership. During his innings, Imran hit a huge six off Richard Illingworth that landed far back into the members section. Imran played a captain's innings, getting a score of 72 and Miandad 58 to steady the innings, expectedly followed by an onslaught from Inzamam (42) and Wasim Akram (33) enabling Pakistan to give England a fighting target of 250.
England's start was shaky.Ian Botham was dismissed for a duck by Wasim Akram, followed byAlec Stewart, Hick and Gooch, which left England tumbling at 69/4. A solid partnership of 71 between Allan Lamb and Neil Fairbrother caused Imran to give an early second spell to his main pacer Wasim Akram in the 35th over. The decision wrote the fate of the match. Two deliveries from the left arm fast bowler dismissed Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis. Soon Fairbrother was caught byMoin Khan offAaqib Javed to seal England's fate. Imran Khan had the final say, when he had Richard Illingworth caught byRamiz Raja off his bowling to finish the final and crown Pakistan World Champions.
This also remains as the only World Cup Final to be played during the week, being played on a Wednesday.
| Matches | Player | Team | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Martin Crowe | New Zealand | 456 |
| 9 | Javed Miandad | Pakistan | 437 |
| 8 | Peter Kirsten | South Africa | 410 |
| 8 | David Boon | Australia | 368 |
| 8 | Ramiz Raja | Pakistan | 349 |
| Matches | Player | Team | Wickets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Wasim Akram | Pakistan | 18 |
| 10 | Ian Botham | England | 16 |
| 9 | Mushtaq Ahmed | Pakistan | 16 |
| 9 | Chris Harris | New Zealand | 16 |
| 8 | Eddo Brandes | Zimbabwe | 14 |
A notable feature of this World Cup was the innovative tactics employed by New Zealand captainMartin Crowe, who opened his team's bowling with spin bowlerDipak Patel, rather than with a fast bowler, as is usual practice. Another innovation was the then-unorthodox ploy of opening the batting with "pinch hitters", such as New Zealand'sMark Greatbatch.[12][17] These innovations reversed the immediate prior form of New Zealand who had lost 3–0 intheir most recent series against England, with one commentator writing, "Without a host of world-class performers, New Zealand got crafty instead".[18]
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