ICC Cricket World Cup South Africa 2003
Cup Facts
The 2003 World Cup, the eighth cricket World Cup, was the first to be held in Africa. The co-hosts were South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya. The majority of the matches were played in South Africa, with Zimbabwe hosting six matches and Kenya two.
The 2003 World Cup had the highest number of participating teams till then, with fourteen teams taking part.
There were ten Test nations, with Bangladesh being the most recent addition. Kenya had won ODI status, and there were three associate nations in Namibia, Canada and Netherlands.
The teams were divided into two groups of seven with the top three from each group going through to the Super Six.
Group A consisted of Australia, India, Zimbabwe, England, Pakistan, Netherlands and Namibia while group B had Sri Lanka, Kenya, New Zealand, South Africa, West Indies, Canada and Bangladesh.
Teams qualifying for the Super Six would carry forward their points won from matches against fellow qualifiers. In the Super Six, teams would have to play each of the three teams that qualified from the other group, and the top four would qualify for the semifinals.
When Kenya played India at Durban on March 20, they were the only non-Test playing nation in history to contest a semifinal.
In the final at Johannesburg on March 23, Australia scored 359 for two against India, which uniquely was the highest score of the tournament.
The highest individual score of the Cup was achieved in the second match of the tournament when Zimbabwe’s Craig Wishart scored an unbeaten 172 against Namibia at Harare on February 10.
India’s Sachin Tendulkar created a Cup record by hammering 673 runs during the tournament. He was an astonishing 208 runs clear of second-placed Sourav Ganguly, the Indian captain.
Sri Lankan swing bowler Chaminda Vaas accomplished a feat that was unprecedented in one-day internationals till then and unequalled since. Against Bangladesh at Pietermaritz-burg on February 14, Vaas took a hattrick off the first three balls of the match. He added another wicket off the fifth ball, making it four wickets in the first over.
Vaas also set a Cup record for most wickets taken with 23 from ten matches. Australian firebrand Brett Lee started Cup career with a bang, finishing second on the wickets list with 22.
Glenn McGrath, the great Australian bowler, had the best bowling figures of the tournament, with his seven for 15 against Namibia at Potche-fstroom on February 27 topping the chart.
The top keeper of the tournament was Australian Adam Gilchrist with twenty-one dismissals from ten matches, while Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara finished second with seventeen (15 catches, 2 stumpings).
