When the minnows scored a point by Partab Ramchand

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Event:

ICC World Cup 2006/07

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DateLine: 11th March 2007

 

From Biblical days the term David vs Goliath has stood the test of time. In sporting parlance the phrase is used when a weaker or less fancied team notches up a shock victory over a giant or an all powerful opponent. And in cricket there cannot be a more stunning result than when a non Test playing nation or associate member gets the better of a Test team. Admittedly it does not happen very often but then that’s what gives such feats the fictional touch.

 

In the World Cup with the enormous disparity between the Test and non Test playing nations such upset results have been few and far between. Nevertheless they have occurred leading to scenes of joyous celebrations and glum faces besides changing equations in the group with the surprise winners gaining a new respect.

 

The inaugural World Cup in 1975 threw up no surprises. The associate members Sri Lanka and East Africa weren’t expected to cause any trouble to the senior members and they didn’t. Both teams lost all their three group matches and the results went along expected lines right up till the title clash. But things started happening four years later. India had lost to both West Indies and New Zealand but were expected to get the better of Sri Lanka then an associate member in their last group match. But with a display that was as authoritative as it was heart warming Sri Lanka surprised their neighbours by 47 runs and it was India and not Sri Lanka who finished at the bottom of the table.

 

By their gutsy performance Sri Lanka proved that fancied teams could be surprised and Zimbabwe did even better four years later. The bookies had offered 1000 to one against Zimbabwe winning the World Cup. They started trembling when Zimbabwe stunned Australia by 13 runs in their opening match. It was the biggest upset in World Cup history and five competitions later it would still qualify as arguably the most shocking result. Zimbabwe were making their World Cup debut and the side had nameless and faceless players while up against them was an Aussie line up that boasted the likes of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, Graeme Wood and Kepler Wessels, Kim Hughes and David Hookes, Allan Border and Rod Marsh, Geoff Lawson and Rodney Hogg and Graham Yallop.

 

It was Zimbabwe again who made the worldwide audience sit up and take notice when in the 1992 World Cup they scored a nine-run victory over England who were shaping as one of the chief contenders for the title – they lost in the final to Pakistan. And taking the cue from Zimbabwe Kenya in 1996 pulled off one of the stunning upsets in ODI history by getting the better of two time champions West Indies, completing a 73-run victory by bowling them out for 93.

 

The 1999 tournament in England seemed to be moving along predictable lines when its calmness was disturbed by a result that sent shock waves through the cricketing world especially in Asia. Even as an unbeaten Pakistan were looking good enough to make it to the semifinals and beyond – they ultimately lost to Australia in the title clash – Bangladesh registered their first victory over a Test playing nation by winning their group match by 62 runs. Four years later the roles were reversed. Bangladesh became a Test playing nation in 2000 but in South Africa they were shocked by Canada by 60 runs in the group stage. Canada were playing their first ODI since 1979 and contained players born in eight different countries. Not to be left behind Kenya who proved to be the surprise packet of the competition – they became the first non Test playing nation to make it to the semifinals – got the better of prohibitive favourites Sri Lanka.

 

So can there be surprise results in the West Indies too? The presence of as many as six non Test playing nations in Bermuda, Scotland, Holland, Ireland, Kenya and Canada raises a whole lot of speculation. My prediction? There will be at least one giant killing act in the tournament.

(Article: Copyright © 2007 CricketArchive)