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2003 Cricket World Cup

The 2003 Cricket World Cup (Official name: ICC Cricket World Cup 2003) was played in South Africa from February 9 to March 24. 2003 was the first time that the Cricket World Cup was held in Africa. The tournament featured 14 teams and 54 matches, the most in the tournament history at the time. The tournament followed the format introduced in the 1999 Cricket World Cup with the teams divided into 2 groups, and the top three in each group qualifying for the "Super-6" stage. The tournament saw upsets in the first round with South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies, and England failing to make it to Super-6 stage while Zimbabwe and Kenya made it to Super-6 stage and Kenya made the semi-finals of the tournament.

The tournament was won by Australia who defeated India in the final.

Participating nations

Fourteen teams played in the 2003 Cricket World Cup. In the first round, they were divided into two groups of 7 teams. The top three from each group qualified for the "Super Six", carrying forward the results they had achieved against other qualifiers from their group into the Super Six round. The top four teams in the Super Six round qualified for the semi-finals, and the winners of those matches played the final.Test and ODI status

Australia Bangladesh England India Kenya New Zealand	Pakistan South Africa Sri Lanka West Indies Zimbabwe

ICC Trophy Qualifiers

Canada Namibia Netherlands

Host cities and venues

Cities	Venues	Capacity
Johannesburg, South Africa	Wanderers Stadium	34,000
Durban, South Africa	Sahara Stadium Kingsmead	25,000
Cape Town, South Africa	Newlands Cricket Ground	25,000
Centurion, South Africa	Centurion Park	23,000
Bloemfontein, South Africa	Goodyear Park	20,000
Benoni, South Africa	Willowmoore Park	20,000
Port Elizabeth, South Africa	Sahara Oval St George’s	19,000
Potchefstroom, South Africa	North West Cricket Stadium	18,000
East London, South Africa	Buffalo Park	16,000
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa	Pietermaritzburg Oval	12,000
Kimberley, South Africa	De Beers Diamond Oval	11,000
Paarl, South Africa	Boland Park	10,000
Harare, Zimbabwe	Harare Sports Club	10,000
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe	Queens Sports Club	9,000
Nairobi, Kenya	Nairobi Gymkhana Club	8,000

Group stage tables and results

The top three teams from each pool qualify for the next stage, carrying forward the points already scored against fellow qualifiers, plus one-fourth of the points scored against the teams that failed to qualify.

Teams that qualified for the Super Six stage are highlighted in blue.

Pool A

Pool A
Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	NR	NRR	PCF
Australia	24	6	6	0	0	2.05	12
India	20	6	5	1	0	1.11	8
Zimbabwe	14	6	3	2	1	0.50	3.5
England	12	6	3	3	0	0.82	N/A
Pakistan	10	6	2	3	1	0.23	N/A
Netherlands	4	6	1	5	0	−1.45	N/A
Namibia	0	6	0	6	0	−2.96	N/A

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Pool B

Pool B
Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	NR	T	NRR	PCF
Sri Lanka	18	6	4	1	0	1	1.20	7.5
Kenya	16	6	4	2	0	0	−0.69	10
New Zealand	16	6	4	2	0	0	0.99	4
South Africa	14	6	3	2	0	1	1.73	N/A
West Indies	14	6	3	2	1	0	1.10	N/A
Canada	4	6	1	5	0	0	−1.99	N/A
Bangladesh	2	6	0	5	1	0	−2.05	N/A

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Before the South Africa v Sri Lanka game was delayed and ultimately called off for rain, the South African team gave to the batsmen a table showing the equivalent number of runs required after each ball, to equal the Sri Lankan total, for the remainder of the match assuming that rain would conclude the game after that particular ball. One ball before the rain interruption began, South Africa scored the requisite number of runs shown on the table. On the next ball it appeared that the batsmen could take a run but they decided not to take a risk, believing that their table showed the number of runs to win, not to tie. Thus the match ended in a tie, and South Africa lost all mathematical chance of proceeding to the Super Six.

Super Six results

Australia, India, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Kenya, and New Zealand advanced to the Super Six stage.

Teams that advanced to the semi-finals are highlighted in blue.

Super Six table

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	NRR	PCF
Australia	24	5	5	0	1.85	12
India	20	5	4	1	0.89	8
Kenya	14	5	3	2	0.35	10
Sri Lanka	11.5	5	2	3	−0.84	7.5
New Zealand	8	5	1	4	−0.90	4
Zimbabwe	3.5	5	0	5	−1.25	3.5

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Semi finals

On a difficult, slow pitch at Port Elizabeth, Australia struggled their way to 212 (7 wickets, 50 overs) against tight Sri Lankan bowling, thanks mainly to a great innings from Andrew Symonds (91 from 118 balls, 7 fours, 1 six)*, demonstrating again captain Ricky Ponting's faith in him. Chaminda Vaas, continuing his excellent tournament, took three wickets. Australia's pace attack then ripped through the Sri Lankan top order, with Brett Lee (3/35 in 8 overs) taking three early wickets and Glenn McGrath (1/20 in 7 overs) taking one. By the time rain arrived in the thirty-ninth over, continued tight bowling had squeezed Sri Lanka to 123 (7 wickets, 38.1 overs), well behind the target given by the Duckworth-Lewis method.

The fairytale finally ended for the Kenyan team, the first and only non Test-playing nation to make a World Cup semifinal to date. Sachin Tendulkar (83 from 101 balls, 5 fours, 1 six)and Sourav Ganguly (111 from 114 balls, 5 fours, 5 sixes), batted the Kenyans out of the game as India careered to a total of 270 (4 wickets, 50 overs). Under the Durban lights, the newly potent Indian seam attack of Zaheer Khan (3/14 in 9.2 overs), the experienced Javagal Srinath (1/11 in 7 overs), and Ashish Nehra (2/11 in 5 overs) careered through the Kenyan top order, who were never in the hunt and were bowled out for 179 (all out, 46.2 overs), with only Steve Tikolo (56 from 83 balls, 5 fours, 2 sixes) putting up any significant resistance.

Final

India won the toss, and Ganguly, slightly strangely, asked Australia to bat, hoping to take advantage of a pitch left damp by dew and rain. On a lively Wanderers Stadium pitch, the Australian openers took advantage of very wayward Indian opening bowlers to get off to a flying start. Adam Gilchrist (57 from 48 balls, 8 fours, 1 six) and Matthew Hayden (37 from 54 balls, 5 fours) shared an opening partnership of 105 runs in 14 overs, forcing Ganguly to bring on the spinners unusually early. The change of pace brought wickets with Adam Gilchrist, who had been swinging at everything, holing out off a sweep shot from the bowling of Harbhajan Singh. Matthew Hayden, looking somewhat better than he had throughout the tournament, soon followed for 37, leaving Australia at 2/125. Captain Ricky Ponting (140 from 121 balls, 4 fours, 8 sixes) and Damien Martyn (88 from 84 balls, 7 fours, 1 six) (playing with a broken thumb) then completed a partnership of 234 runs in 30.1 overs, an Australian record for one-day cricket. Ponting and Martyn started efficiently, putting away bad balls but mostly keeping the scoring going with good running, then letting loose in the last ten overs, taking 109 from them. Ponting in particular dispatched the bowling over the fence with fearsome regularity in scoring 8 sixes, the most from one batsman in any World Cup match at the time. The final Australian total of 359 (2 wickets, 50 overs), at a run rate of 7.18 runs an over, was their second highest ever in ODI history.

India's colossal run chase was made even more difficult after their trump card, Sachin Tendulkar, was out in the first over after skying a pull shot, Glenn McGrath completing the caught and bowled. Nevertheless, Virender Sehwag's (82 from 81 balls, 10 fours, 3 sixes) run-a-ball half century gave India respectability as they maintained a high scoring rate. Their only realistic hope—a washout—looked a possibility as the game was interrupted by rain in the eighteenth over. This rain proved fleeting, but Australia had taken few wickets and when more rain looked to arrive India were leaders according to DL method. However, this rain passed by, and India's hopes were dashed when Sehwag was run out by Darren Lehmann, and again when Rahul Dravid (47 from 57 balls, 2 fours) was bowled by Brett Lee, ending their partnership of 88 runs in 13.2 overs. India's batsmen continued to throw wickets away in the chase as the run rate crept up past 7 an over, and they were finally bowled out for 234 (all out, 39.2 overs) at a run rate of 5.97 runs an over giving Australia an emphatic victory by a record margin (in World Cup finals thus far) of 125 runs, underlining their dominance of the tournament. Ponting was named "Man Of The Match", and Sachin Tendulkar, for his demolition of bowling attacks, was named "Player of the Series."

Controversies

Indian player sponsorships

There were a number of pre-tournament controversies, including the possible refusal of many Indian players to play due to their inability to promote their personal sponsors (many of whom provide most of the players' income, but whose products clash with those of the tournament sponsor).

Zimbabwe's political situation

Also raised was the security and political situation in Zimbabwe, and the appropriateness of playing there given the misdeeds of the regime of Robert Mugabe. Two Zimbabwean players, Andy Flower and Henry Olonga (the former white, the latter black) wore black armbands for their opening game, and issued a strong statement explaining that they were "mourning the death of democracy in Zimbabwe". Both men subsequently retired from Zimbabwean cricket, and began playing overseas, Olonga stating that to continue "would be condoning the grotesque human rights violations that have been perpetrated - and continue to be perpetrated - against my fellow countrymen."

England faced a great deal of domestic pressure to boycott their match in Zimbabwe on political grounds, and after some prevarication—initially announcing that they would play—did not play, citing fears for the players' safety. The boycott proved costly as Zimbabwe advanced to the Super 6 just 2 points ahead of England, from the 4 points they achieved from the boycott.

Similarly, New Zealand decided against playing in Kenya because of security fears. This would ultimately cost New Zealand dearly. Had New Zealand played Kenya and won (as was expected), South Africa would have proceeded into the Super 6, and New Zealand would have ended up with 12 points in the Super 6, as they had previously defeated South Africa.

Shane Warne's drug test

Australian star player Shane Warne was sent home from the cup in embarrassing circumstances, only the day before their opening game, after a positive drug test in a lead-up competition in Australia revealed that he had taken a diuretic. The leg spinner claimed that he had taken a 'fluid pill' on the advice of his mother.