The Biggest Upsets in Cricket World Cup History
I think I'd call today's semi-final victory by New Zealand over India more of a shock than an upset. Certainly heading into the game most were tipping an inform India team that had lost just once in the tournament thus far to book a place in the final at the expense of the Kiwi's who had limped into the knockout stages with 3 straight defeats and ridden their luck a little in some the games prior to that. However, that is the beauty of knockout cricket, the best team on the day (or this case 2 days) takes the win and the Kiwis thoroughly deserved their victory.
Looking back through the history books here are some games which could be genuinely considered upsets
Kenya beat The West Indies World Cup 1996
The great West Indies team that had dominated the sport in 1970s and 80s had been on the decline for some years prior to this result but it's worth noting that this team still bosted some players who will go down in the history books as the best of the best, including Brian Lara, Courtney Walsh and Curtley Ambrose.
Kenya did well to recover from 81-6 to post a respectable 166 against a West Indies team lead by 4 genuine quick bowlers. However, on a slow turning pitch at Pune, pace was not such a key factor and instead it was the accurate medium pace and slow bowling of Kenya that had the West Indies tied in knots. Rajab Ali started the rot with an accurate spell of opening bowling that accounted for West Indies skipper Richie Richardson and Brian Lara. Thereafter captain Maurice Odumbe's part-time off-spin stifled the West Indies middle order and panic set in culminating in 2 run-outs. Only 2 West Indies batsmen managed double figures as the 2 times winners were turned over for just 96 runs by a group of part-timers.
Bangladesh beat Pakistan World Cup 1999
20 years later and on present form this result wouldn't be much of a shock but back in the late 90s Bangladesh were just trying to get a foothold in international cricket. They had never beaten a Test playing nation in any form of the game and on most occasions they had been blown away without putting up much of a fight. Coming into this match against a Pakistani bowling attack that included Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar few gave them much chance of seeing out their 50overs in this fixture let alone getting a positive result.
However, the Bangladesh openers weathered the storm and managed to blunt the Pakistani new ball attack with Mehrab Hossain playing an innings that would have been considered slow by Test Match standards (79mins, 42balls, 9 runs, S/R 21.42). The other top 8 batsmen all contributed double figures as Bangladesh worked their way to a semi-competitive score of 223-9.
Therafter, opening bolwer Kahleed Mahmud bowling little more than dibbly dobblies in comparison to the thunderbolts delivered by the Shoaib and co. ran through a Pakistan top-order that included the likes of Shahid Afridi, Inzaman Ul-Haq and Shoaib Malik to leave them 42-5. The lower order of Pakistan fought back but Bangladesh kept chipping away aided by some horror show decision making from Pakistan who contributed 3 run-outs to their own downfall.
Ireland beat England World Cup 2011
Beyond being a major upset this game is arguably one of the greatest matches ever played in the World Cup and only serves to lend support to those who argue that more "developing" cricket nations should have been included in the current tournament.
England's top order packed with Test Match quality batsmen including Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell lead them to a commanding total of 327 albeit that a late flurry of wickets restricted that total from being closer to 350. No problem, we all thought, the Irish will never chase that many anyway! That opinion seemed to be further justified when James Anderson removed Irish captain Will Porterfield with the very first ball of Ireland's reply and England continued to chip away to leave Ireland 111-5 at the half way point.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xhclm8
In strides Kevin O'Brien with his side needing to score at over 8 an over and with only 5 wickets in hand, the big all-rounder unleased one the most devasting displays of hitting that the tournament has ever seen scoring 113 from just 68 balls. He was ably supported by John Mooney and Alex Cusack whose contributions helped Ireland to a 3 wicket victory in the last over with the former uttering the now immortalised line
"I don't care if we never win another f****n match in our lives as long as we beat these bastards!"
The run chase that Ireland completed remains to this day a record in the World Cup.
Canada beat Bangladesh 2003 World Cup
When you look at the previous example of an upset between Ireland and England at least you can identify most of the Irish cricketers as full-time professionals, many of whom played domestic first-class cricket in England. This example of an upset from 2003 saw Test playing nation Bangladesh come undone against a team of semi-pros most who played cricket in their spare time. Those football fans familiar with the early rounds of the English FA Cup would have been used to the way the Canadian team sheet was read out with the obligatory taxi driver and accountant in the starting 11. However, it was a 24-year-old Jamaican born plumber who really stole the show for Canada.
Having made 180 in their innings, Canada could at least hold their heads high and with Bangladesh 106-4 that appeared to be the best that the North Americans could hope for in this match. However, Austin Codrington had other ideas and in seaming conditions, he delivered a spell of bowling that would forever remain in the annals of Candian cricketing history, if such a document were to exist!
Bangladesh lost their final 6 wickets in the space of just 43 balls to crumble to 120 all out with Codrington recording figures of 5-27. Those 5 wickets accounted for half of Codrington's career tally of 10 ODI wickets but just think, there will be many residents of Toronto who unknowing to them have had their cistern fixed by a cricket World Cup hero!
India beat West Indies World Cup 1983
While some might say that any team that reaches a World Cup final as India did in 1983 must be pretty good, it is worth remembering just how awesome this West Indies side were. They had already won the first 2 tournaments in 1975 and 1979 both also played in England and with a team that included 3 or 4 players who would rightfully be considered in anyone's all-time XI it seemed destined that they would make it 3 in a row.
When India were dismissed for a rather paltry 183 it looked likely that the result would go to script. However, India weren't about to roll over so easily and buoyed by the fact that they had already bowled this West Indian side out in the group stages they set about putting together one of the most complete bowling and fielding performances that a World Cup final has ever seen. Right-arm seamer Madan Lal did the damage at the top of the order by claiming the wickets of Haynes, Gomes and the prize scalp of Viv Richards. The West Indies were bundled out for 140 and to date, they have never come close to winning a World Cup again. As for India, they would go on to become a cricketing superpower and are now one of the favourites to add a third title to their collection.
For me the biggest question that this raises, is how much will this impact viewership of the final, and did those bidding for the TV rights do so based on the assumption that India's draw and strong side would get them into the final?
As for the biggest upset, it wasn't so much a match result as an individual performance. In 2003, Canada took on the West Indies, and a bloke better known for his spin bowling for Victoria opened the batting. John Davison proceeded to blast 111 from 76 balls as Canada posted an unexpected 202.
A West Indies side featuring Gayle, Lara, Hinds, Hooper, Sarwan & Chanderpaul was always going to chase that down, but Davison's performance went a long way to showing people that the minnows in these tournaments deserve some respect too.
I'm sure it will impact the viewing figures but the ICC shouldn't be tempted to manipulate tournaments just so India make the final. There has already been some criticism of the way this tournament has been set-up to exclude the smaller nations and guarantee that the glamour ties between India and Pakistan/England/Australia.
The good news is that IF England make the final then the match here will be on freeview TV, the first time that England will have played a live game accessible to everyone in country since the 2005 Ashes! As England has a higher population and therefore greater potential for viewing figures it would also be useful if your boys could do the right thing for the game of cricket as a whole and lose today ;-)
Yes, I remember that knock by John Davison. You look at the role the lesser nations have played in World Cups histrorically and while I've enjoyed this tournament, I do think it's a shame that 1 or 2 other nations outside the top 10 weren't included
Yes, reducing the inclusion of the "minnows" in these tournaments is a step backwards for the development of the game in my opinion. It makes me wonder whether the "Big 4 - India, Australia, South Africa and England" would prefer to stunt the growth of the minnows for fear of losing their dominance in the game.
As for the game last night, I must say I did take some perverse pleasure in that result - I'm off the Australian national team as long David Warner has anything to do with it as I don't believe his inclusion reflects the values to which Australian Cricket needs to aspire. It merely tells me all the talk of a cultural review was just lip service, and winning is more important than having a team of role models to be proud of. Thank goodness we have Ellyse Perry and Ash Barty for out kids to look up to.
I think unfortunately that is exactly how the ICC see things / money talks and money is made selling TV rights for India, Pakistan, England and Australia matches.
That being said there are a few emerging markets in countries like Nepal that should be given as much support as possible to develop grass roots cricket. I know a few Nepalese cricket fans and they always say that the support is there for the game but the infrastructure is lacking to really take them to the next level
Personally I would love to see the "minnows" be sponsored for decent tours of the full Test countries.
The way I envisage it, is the likes of Nepal or Afghanistan or any of the minnows touring Australia would be a 4 day match and a couple of limited overs games against each state team, then culminating in a 4 day game and best of the limited overs series against Australia A.
Mimic that through the "big" nations and then these emerging countries are getting some exposure to high quality opposition on at least a semi regular basis which can only help them improve in the long term.
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On the day any side can win. I thought New Zealand had a better than good chance with their bowling attack. I love it when this happens as it brings everyone down a peg or two. My favorite is the 1992 World Cup when Zimbabwe beat England bowling them out for 125.
Certainly in those swinging conditions I thought NZ had a shout but I think India will be disappointed with their top order failing in quite such a manner and their middle order failing to capitalise when conditions became a little easier. NZ basically showed India how to put a score on the board in those conditions. I can't understand why Pandya was sent in ahead of Dhoni.
Yep that was close to making the list but I thought I shouldn't pick on England too much