How Sri Lanka's reckless opening overs won the 1996 World Cup
In the mid-1990s a one-day side was happy with 50 or 60 runs from the first 15 overs, while fielders were forced to stay close in. Sri Lanka's openers treated those overs as a free-for-all, and the co-hosts rode that gamble all the way to a trophy nobody expected them to lift.
Coach Dav Whatmore and captain Arjuna Ranatunga sent out Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana to swing hard while the early fielding restrictions applied. Against Kenya they piled up 398 for 5, a record one-day international total that lasted until April 2006. England, beaten in the quarter-final, conceded 121 in those opening overs alone. Jayasuriya was named Man of the Series.
The tournament was shared between Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka, though India staged 17 matches at 17 separate grounds while Sri Lanka hosted only four. Two more were meant to be played in Colombo, but after a bombing there in January 1996, Australia and the West Indies declined to travel, and the ICC gave Sri Lanka both games on forfeit. Among the newcomers, Kenya pulled off a shock win over the West Indies in Pune, and South Africa's Gary Kirsten made 188 not out against the United Arab Emirates, a World Cup individual record until 2015.
The semi-final against India at Eden Gardens in Calcutta drew a crowd unofficially put at 110,000. Aravinda de Silva rescued Sri Lanka after both openers fell cheaply, and India's chase collapsed to 120 for 8. Parts of the crowd began hurling fruit and bottles, then lit fires in the stands, and referee Clive Lloyd awarded Sri Lanka the match, the first default in any Test or one-day international.
In the Lahore final, Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl, even though the side batting first had won all five earlier finals. Australia made 241 for 7, with Mark Taylor top-scoring on 74. De Silva took three wickets and then struck an unbeaten 107 as Sri Lanka won by seven wickets, the first time any host or co-host had taken the Cup.
Source: 1996 Cricket World Cup
