Seventh World Cup – 1999

The tradition of a batsman registering a century in the opening game of the World Cup was not kept up in this edition. The following table lists out the hundreds in opening games of the World Cups played so far.

1975 – 137 by DL Amiss of England vs India at Lord’s on 07.06.75 and 171* by GM Turner of New Zealand vs East Africa at Nottingham on 07.06.75 : 1979 – 106* by CG Greenidge of West Indies vs India at Birmingham on 09.06.79 : 1983 – 102 by AJ Lamb of England vs New Zealand at The Oval on 09.06.83 : 1987 – 103 by Javed Miandad of Pakistan vs Sri Lanka at Hyd-LBS on 08.10.87 : 1992 – 100 not out by MD Crowe of New Zealand vs Australia at Auckland on 29.02.92 and 100 by DC Boon of Australia vs New Zealand at Auckland on 29.02.02 : 1996 – 101 by NJ Astle of New Zealand vs England at Ahmedabad on 14.02.96 : 1999 – No hundreds : 2003 – 116 by BC Lara of West Indies vs South Africa at Cape Town on 09.02.03

Saurav Ganguly of India and JH Kallis of South Africa were dismissed in nineties after registering 97 and 96 respectively in the game between India and South Africa at Hove on 15.05.99. Both were dismissed run out providing the lone instance of rival batsmen dismissed run out in the World Cup. Saurav Ganguly was making his World Cup debut. He is the third batsman to register ninety on World Cup debut. The other two are RA Smith of England and MD Crowe of New Zealand. Ganguly’s 97 and Kallis’s 96 provides the third instance of rival batsmen registering nineties in the World Cup. As of now there are four such instances in the World Cup. Rahul Dravid was also making his debut in the World Cup. He made 54 in this game. Ganguly and Rahul Dravid registering fifties in this game provide the fifth instance of two or more batsmen registering fifties on World Cup debut. As on date there are six such instances. Ganguly’s 97 remain the highest score among the Indian debutants in the World Cup. The five occasions are – 137 by DL Amiss : 68 by KWR Fletcher and 51* by CM Old of England vs India at Lord’s in 1975 : 171* by GM Turner and 96 by JM Parker of New Zealand vs East Africa at Birmingham in 1975 : 65 by Majid Khan and 53 by Asif Iqbal of Pakistan vs Australia at Leeds in 1975 : 72 by DSBP Kuruppu and 59* by RG de Alwis of Sri Lanka vs Pakistan at Swansea in 1983 and 97 by SC Ganguly and 54 by R Dravid of India vs South Africa at Hove in 1999

Scotland made their debut in the World cup in their fixture against Australia at Worcester on 16.05.99, which was won by Australia by six wickets

S Ramesh scored 55 on his World Cup debut in the match between India and Zimbabwe at Liecester on 19.05.99. He became the fifth Indian batsman to register a fifty on World Cup. The following table lists out the Indian batsmen who have scored a fifty on World Cup debut – 89 by Yashpal Sharma vs West Indies at Mancheter in 1983 : 73 by NS Sidhu vs Australia at Chennai in 1987 : 97 by SC Ganguly vs South Africa at Hove in 1999 : 54 by R Dravid vs South Africa at Hove in 1999 and 55 by S Ramesh vs Zimbabwe at Leicester in 1999

Scotland’s opening batsmen BM Patterson and IL Phillip failed to open their account against Pakistan at Chester-le-street on 20.05.99, providing the third instance of the both the openers dismissed for zeroes in the World Cup

ST Jayasuriya and RS Kaluwitharana registered identical scores of five runs for Sri Lanka against South Africa at Northampton to provide the third instance of both the openers registering identical scores. Two more such instances were witnessed in this edition. MJ Horne and NJ Astle of New Zealand scored two runs each against West Indies at Southampton on 24.05.99 and ME Waugh and A Gilchrist registered 05 runs each against South Africa at Leeds on 13.06.99

In the match between India and Kenya at Bristol on 23.05.99, two Indian batsmen SC Ganguly and RS Dravid registered 104 and 140 respectively. Their feat provide the second instance of two batsmen registering hundreds for the same team in the World Cup.

In the game between Scotland and Bangladesh at Edinburgh on 24.05.99, Scotland’s JAR Blain earned the distinction of becoming the first Scotland bowler to capture four wickets in the World Cup.

SC Ganguly and RS Dravid of India registered 183 and 145 respectively against Sri Lanka at Taunton on 26.05.99 providing the third instance of two batsmen from the same side registering hundreds in the World Cup. RS Dravid became the sixth batsman to be dismissed runout after registering hundred. His 145 remain the highest among the centurions who were run out. He is the second Indian centurion who was run out in the World Cup, the first one being SR Tendulkar who after making 137 against Sri Lanka at Delhi on 26.05.99 was run out. SC Ganguly and RS Dravid were concerned in a 318 runs partnership for the second wicket which remains the only 300 plus partnership in World Cup. Ganguly hit 17 fours and seven sixes in this game – thus amassing 110 runs from the boundaries alone which remains a record for most runs through boundaries in the World Cup. Dravid became the third wicket keeper to register a hundred in the World Cup after DL Houghton {1987} and A Flower {115 not out}. Dravid’s 145 represent the highest individual score by a wicket keeper in World Cup. Robin Singh captured five wickets in this game conceding 31 runs. His feat 16^th instance of a bowler capturing exact five wickets in World Cup

RS Dravid with his 104 against Kenya at Bristol on 22.05.99 and 145 against Sri Lanka at Taunton on 26.05.99 became the second batsman after Mark Waugh of Australia to register back to back hundreds in the World Cup. Saeed Anwar of Pakistan became the third batsman to achieve this feat when he scored 103 against Zimbabwe at The Oval on 11.06.79 and 113 not out against New Zealand at Manchester on 17.06.99. ME Waugh, RS Dravid and Saeed Anwar are the only three batsman to register back to back hundreds in World Cup.

Rahul Dravid earned the distinction of becoming the seventh batsman to register two hundreds in the same World Cup. As on date there are ten batsmen who have achieved the feat and they are listed as under {Note : the list does not include the three hundreds by a batsman in the same World Cup} – GM Turner of New Zealand – 171* vs East Africa and 114* vs India in 1975 ediiton : GR Marsh of Australia – 110 vs India and 126* vs New Zealand in 1987 edition : DC Boon of Australia – 100* vs New Zealand and 100 vs West Indies in 1992 edition : Rameez Raja of Pakistan – 102* vs West Indies and 119* vs New Zealand in 1992 edition : SR Tendulkar of India – 127* vs Kenya and 137 vs Sri Lanka in 1996 : R Dravid of India – 104* vs Kenya and 145 vs Sri Lanka in 1999 : Saeed
Anwar of Pakistan – 103 vs Zimbabwe and 113* vs New Zealand in 1999 : MS Atapattu of Sri Lanka – 124 vs South Africa and 103* vs Zimbabwe in 2003 and RT Ponting of Australia – 114 vs Australia and 140* vs Sri Lanka in 2003

Rahul Dravid is the second Indian batsman to register two hundreds in the same world Cup after Sachin Tendulkar.who had achieved the feat in the 1996 edition. It’s a strange coincidence that both these batsmen chosen Kenya and Sri Lanka as their opponents while achieving the feat.

RD Jacobs carried his bat through over allocation in the game between West Indies and Australia at Manchester on 30.05.99 while registering 49 not out providing the seventh instance of a batsman carrying the bat through over allocation in World Cup. As on date there are eleven instances of batsmen carrying the bat through over allocation in World Cup. RD Jacobs is the second batsmen who have carried the bat through in the World Cup without a fifty, the other being SM Gavaskar who had made 36 not out against England at Lord’s on 07.06.75

Ajay Jadeja’s 100 not out in the game between India and Australia at The Oval on 04.06.99 went in vain as Australia won this game by 77 runs, providing the ninth instance of a batsman’s century going in vain in World Cup. This edition witnessed two more such instances. Zimbabwean NC Johnson’s 132 not out against Australia at Lord’s on 09.06.99 went in vain as Australia won the game by 44 runs and South Africa’s HH Gibbs’s 101 against Australia at Leeds on 12.06.99 went in vain as Australia won the game by five wickets.

India won their fixture against Pakistan at Manchester on 08.06.99 by 47 runs. BK Venkatesh Prasad captured five for 27 in this game for India. Prasad became the third Indian bowler to capture five wickets in World Cup. The other two are Kapil Dev and Robin Singh.

Mark Waugh registered his fourth hundred in World Cup when he made 104 in the match between Australia and Zimbabwe at Lord’s 09.06.99. With the Zimbabwe opening batsman NC Johnson also registering a hundred in this game -132 not out – the feat of both the openers registering hundreds was witnessed for the first time in the World Cup.

Saeed Anwar’s 103 for Pakistan and NC Johnson’s 54 for Zimbabwe at The Oval on 11.06.99 provides the seventh instance of rival batsmen registering a fifty and hundred in World Cup.

Saqlain Mushtaq became the second bowler in the World Cup to perform the Hat trick. He claimed the wickets of HK Olonga, AG Huckle, M Mbangwa of the first three successive deliveries of his seventh over. Saqlain Mushtaq’s feat was the first hat trick to conclude a game in World Cup as well as in One day Internationals.

Australia won the 1999 World Cup by overwhelming Pakistan by eight wickets. Shane Warne took 4 for 33 in Pakistan’s total of 132 runs.