Walkovers and misread rain sums rewrote cricket's first African World Cup
In 2003 Kenya, a country without Test status, reached a World Cup semi-final, something no side of its kind has managed before or since. It got there partly because New Zealand refused to play in Nairobi, one of several forfeits and blunders that knocked big names out before the Super Sixes.
South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya shared hosting duties from February to March 2003, the first time the tournament came to Africa. Fourteen teams, then a record, played 54 matches, including Namibia on debut plus the Netherlands and Canada, who had come through the 2001 ICC Trophy. The format kept 1999's Super Sixes, with one tweak: qualifiers now carried forward a quarter of the points they had taken off teams that were eliminated.
Hosts South Africa went out by a single run after misreading the Duckworth-Lewis target, and Pakistan, the West Indies and England also fell at the first hurdle. England's exit had a twist. Under pressure at home over the government of Robert Mugabe, it declined to play in Harare, citing player safety, and Zimbabwe took the four points from the walkover and edged into the Super Sixes just two points ahead. Zimbabwe's own Andy Flower and Henry Olonga donned black armbands to protest undemocratic rule and later left to play overseas.
Australia lost its leading spinner before a ball was bowled. Shane Warne was sent home after testing positive for a banned diuretic, a fluid pill he said his mother had suggested. His teammates won all 11 of their matches regardless. In the semi-final against Sri Lanka, Adam Gilchrist famously walked off despite being given not out, and Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar bowled a delivery clocked at a record 161.3 km/h against England.
Kenya's run ended against India in Durban. The final at the Wanderers in Johannesburg was one-sided: Ricky Ponting hit 140, he and Damien Martyn added 234, and India, having lost Sachin Tendulkar in the first over, were all out for 234. The 125-run margin was a record for a final, and gave Australia a third title.
Source: 2003 Cricket World Cup
