1996 Cricket World Cup

1996 Cricket World Cup

Sri lanka world cup 1996

The 1996 Cricket World Cup, also called the Wills World Cup after its official sponsors, was the sixth Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was the second World Cup to be hosted by Pakistan and India, and for the first time by Sri Lanka. The tournament was won by Sri Lanka, who defeated Australia in the final at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.

Hosts

The 1996 World Cup was played in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Controversy dogged the tournament before any games were played, however, when Australia and the West Indies refused to send their teams to Sri Lanka following the Central Bank bombing by the Tamil Tigers in January, citing security concerns. Sri Lanka, in addition to offering maximum security to the teams, questioned the validity of citing security concerns when the International Cricket Council had determined it was safe. After extensive negotiations, the ICC ruled that Sri Lanka would be awarded both games on forfeit. As a result of this decision, Sri Lanka automatically qualified for the quarter-finals before playing a game.

 Host cities and venues

India hosted 17 matches at 17 different venues, while Pakistan hosted 16 matches at 6 venues and Sri Lanka hosted 4 matches at 3 venues.

 India

Cities	Venues	Capacity	Matches
Kolkata, West Bengal	Eden Gardens	90,000	1
Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh	Green Park	45,000	1
Mohali, Punjab	Punjab Cricket Association Stadium	40,000	1
Bengaluru, Karnataka	M. Chinnaswamy Stadium	55,000	1
Chennai, Tamil Nadu	M. A. Chidambaram Stadium	50,000	1
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh	Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium	30,000	1
Cuttack, Orissa	Barabati Stadium	25,000	1
Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh	Roop Singh Stadium	25,000	1
Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh	Indira Priyadarshini Stadium	25,000	1
Patna, Bihar	Moin-ul-Haq Stadium	25,000	1
Pune, Maharashtra	Nehru Stadium	25,000	1
Mumbai, Maharashtra	Wankhede Stadium	45,000	1
Ahmedabad, Gujrat	Sardar Patel Stadium	48,000	1
Vadodara (Baroda), Gujarat	Moti Bagh Stadium	18,000	1
Jaipur, Rajasthan	Sawai Mansingh Stadium	30,000	1
Nagpur, Maharashtra	Vidarbha C.A. Ground	40,000	1
Delhi	Feroz Shah Kotla	48,000	1

 Pakistan

Cities	Venues	Capacity	Matches
Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa	Arbab Niaz Stadium	30,000	2
Lahore, Punjab	Gaddafi Stadium	60,000	4
Faisalabad, Punjab	Iqbal Stadium	25,000	3
Gujranwala, Punjab	Jinnah Stadium	12,000	1
Karachi, Sindh	National Stadium	30,000	3
Rawalpindi, Punjab	Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium	15,000	3

 Sri Lanka

Cities	Venues	Capacity	Matches
Kandy	Asgiriya Stadium	10,000	1
Colombo	R. Premadasa Stadium	35,000	2
Colombo	Sinhalese Sports Club Ground	10,000	1

Kolkata Delhi Ahmedabad Chennai Mohali Nagpur Bengaluru Mumbai Hyderabad Cuttack Gwalior Visakhapatnam Patna Pune Jaipur Kanpur Vadodara Venues in India

Peshawar Lahore Faisalabad Gujranwala Karachi Rawalpindi Venues in Pakistan

Colombo Kandy Venues in Sri Lanka

 Squads

Teams

Three teams made their World Cup debuts in 1996: the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands and Kenya. The Netherlands lost all of their five matches while the U.A.E. only beat the Dutch. Kenya, however, recorded a surprise victory over the West Indies in Pune.

 Overview

The Sri Lankans, coached by Dav Whatmore and captained by Arjuna Ranatunga, used Man of the Series Sanath Jayasuriya^[1] and Romesh Kaluwitharana as opening batsmen to take advantage of the fielding restrictions during the first 15 overs of each innings. At a time when 50 or 60 runs in the first 15 overs was considered adequate, Sri Lanka scored 117 runs in those overs against India, 123 against Kenya, 121 against England in the quarter-final and 86 against India in the semi-final. Against Kenya, Sri Lanka made 398 for 5, a new record for the highest team score in a One Day International that stood until April 2006.
Sri Lanka won the first semi-final over India at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in front of a crowd unofficially estimated at 110 000. Chasing Sri Lanka's innings of 251 for 8, India had slumped to 120 for 8 in the 35th over when sections of crowd began to throw fruit and plastic bottles onto the field. The players left the field for 20 minutes in an attempt to quieten the crowd. When the players returned for play, more bottles were thrown onto the field and fires were lit in the stand. Match referee Clive Lloyd awarded the match to Sri Lanka, the first default ever in a Test or One Day International (as of 2012, there has only been two defaults in a Test or One Day International).
In the second semi-final in Mohali, Australia recovered from 15 for 4 to reach 207 for 8 from their 50 overs. The West Indians had reached 165 for 2 in the 42nd over before losing their last 8 wickets for 37 runs in 50 balls.
Sri Lanka won the toss in the final and sent Australia in to bat despite the team batting first having won all five previous World Cup finals. Mark Taylor top scored with 74 in Australia's total of 241 for 7. After Australia had put down no fewer than five catches, Sri Lanka won the match in the 47th over with Aravinda de Silva following his 3 for 42 with an unbeaten 107 to win the Player of the Match award. It was the first time a tournament host or co-host had won the cricket World Cup.

 Group stage

 Group A

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	NR	T	NRR
Sri Lanka	10	5	5	0	0	0	1.60
Australia	6	5	3	2	0	0	0.90
India	6	5	3	2	0	0	0.45
West Indies	4	5	2	3	0	0	−0.13
Zimbabwe	2	5	1	4	0	0	−0.93
Kenya	2	5	1	4	0	0	−1.00

16 February Scorecard	Zimbabwe 151/9 (50 overs)	v	West Indies 155/4 (29.3 overs)	West Indies won by 6 wickets Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad Umpires: Steve Dunne and Srinivas Venkataraghavan Player of the match: Curtley Ambrose (WI)
	Grant Flower 31 (54) Curtley Ambrose 3/28 (10 overs)		Sherwin Campbell 47 (88) Paul Strang 4/40 (7.3 overs)

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17 February Scorecard	Sri Lanka	v	Australia	Sri Lanka won by a walkover R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Mahboob Shah and Cyril Mitchley
Australia forfeited the match due to safety concerns, and were in Bombay at the time of the match.

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18 February Scorecard	Kenya 199/6 (50 overs)	v	India 203/3 (41.5 overs)	India won by 7 wickets Barabati Stadium, Cuttack Umpires: K. T. Francis and David Shepherd Player of the match: Sachin Tendulkar (Ind)
	Steve Tikolo 65 (83) Anil Kumble 3/28 (10 overs)		Sachin Tendulkar 127* (138) Steve Tikolo 1/26 (3 overs)

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21 February Scorecard	Zimbabwe 228/6 (50 overs)	v	Sri Lanka 229/4 (37 overs)	Sri Lanka won by 6 wickets Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo Umpires: Steve Dunne and Mahboob Shah Player of the match: Aravinda de Silva (SL)
	Alistair Campbell 75 (102) Chaminda Vaas 2/30 (10 overs)		Aravinda de Silva 91 (86) Heath Streak 3/60 (10 overs)

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21 February Scorecard	West Indies 173 (50 overs)	v	India 174/5 (39.4 overs)	India won by 5 wickets Captain Roop Singh Stadium, Gwalior Umpires: Khizer Hayat and Ian Robinson Player of the match: Sachin Tendulkar (Ind)
	Richie Richardson 47 (70) Anil Kumble 3/35 (10 overs)		Sachin Tendulkar 70 (91) Roger Harper 2/34 (9 overs)

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23 February Scorecard	Australia 304/7 (50 overs)	v	Kenya 207/7 (50 overs)	Australia won by 97 runs Indira Priyadarshini Stadium, Visakhapatnam Umpires: Cyril Mitchley and David Shepherd Player of the match: Mark Waugh (Aus)
	Mark Waugh 130 (128) Rajab Ali 3/45 (10 overs)		Kennedy Otieno 85 (137) Paul Reiffel 2/18 (7 overs)

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26 February Scorecard	Sri Lanka	v	West Indies	Sri Lanka won by a walkover Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Umpires: Mahboob Shah and V.K. Ramaswamy
West Indies forfeited the match due to safety concerns.

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26 February Scorecard	Kenya 134 (49.4 overs)	v	Zimbabwe 137/5 (42.2 overs)	Zimbabwe won by 5 wickets Moin-ul-Haq Stadium, Patna Umpires: Khizer Hayat and Cyril Mitchley Player of the match: Paul Strang (Zim)
	Dipak Chudasama 34 (66) Paul Strang 5/21 (9.4 overs)		Grant Flower 45 (112) Rajab Ali 3/22 (8 overs)
This game was scheduled to be played on 25 February. That game started but was abandoned after 15.5 overs in the Zimbabwe innings.

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27 February Scorecard	Australia 258 (50 overs)	v	India 242 (48 overs)	Australia won by 16 runs Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Umpires: Steve Dunne and David Shepherd Player of the match: Mark Waugh (Aus)
	Mark Waugh 126 (135) Venkatapathy Raju 2/48 (10 overs)		Sachin Tendulkar 90 (84) Damien Fleming 5/36 (9 overs)

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29 February Scorecard	Kenya 166 (49.3 overs)	v	West Indies 93 (35.2 overs)	Kenya won by 73 runs Nehru Stadium, Pune Umpires: Khizer Hayat and V.K. Ramaswamy Player of the match: Maurice Odumbe (Ken)
	Steve Tikolo 29 (50) Courtney Walsh 3/46 (9 overs)		Shivnarine Chanderpaul 19 (48) Maurice Odumbe 3/15 (10 overs)

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1 March Scorecard	Zimbabwe 154 all out (45.3 overs)	v	Australia 158/2 (36 overs)	Australia won by 8 wickets Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur Umpires: Steve Dunne and David Shepherd Player of the match: Shane Warne (Aus)
	Andrew Waller 67 (101) Shane Warne 4/34 (9.3 overs)		Mark Waugh 76* (109) Paul Strang 2/33 (10 overs)

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2 March Scorecard	India 271/3 (50 overs)	v	Sri Lanka 272/4 (48.4 overs)	Sri Lanka won by 6 wickets Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi Umpires: Cyril Mitchley and Ian Robinson Player of the match: Sanath Jayasuriya (SL)
	Sachin Tendulkar 137 (137) Ravindra Pushpakumara 1/53 (8 overs)		Sanath Jayasuriya 79 (76) Anil Kumble 2/39 (10 overs)

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4 March Scorecard	Australia 229/6 (50 overs)	v	West Indies 232/6 (48.5 overs)	West Indies won by 4 wickets Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Umpires: Mahboob Shah and David Shepherd Player of the match: Richie Richardson (WI)
	Ricky Ponting 102 (112) Courtney Walsh 2/35 (9 overs)		Richie Richardson 93* (133) Mark Waugh 3/38 (10 overs)

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6 March Scorecard	India 247/5 (50 overs)	v	Zimbabwe 207 all out (49.4 overs)	India won by 40 runs Green Park, Kanpur Umpires: Steve Bucknor and Cyril Mitchley Player of the match: Ajay Jadeja (Ind)
	Vinod Kambli 106 (110) Charlie Lock 2/57 (10 overs)		Heath Streak 30 (39) Venkatapathy Raju 3/30 (10 overs)

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6 March Scorecard	Sri Lanka 398/5 (50 overs)	v	Kenya 254/7 (50 overs)	Sri Lanka won by 144 runs Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy Umpires: Steve Dunne and V.K. Ramaswamy Player of the match: Aravinda De Silva (SL)
	Aravinda De Silva 145 (115) Tito Odumbe 2/34 (5 overs)		Steve Tikolo 96 (95) Arjuna Ranatunga 2/31 (5 overs)

WI VS AUS 1996

1996 INDIA FLOWS TO THE QUARTER FINAL

1996 CRICKET WORLD CUP MEMORIES

Group B

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	NR	T	NRR
South Africa	10	5	5	0	0	0	2.04
Pakistan	8	5	4	1	0	0	0.96
New Zealand	6	5	3	2	0	0	0.55
England	4	5	2	3	0	0	0.08
United Arab Emirates	2	5	1	4	0	0	−1.83
Netherlands	0	5	0	5	0	0	−1.92

14 February Scorecard	New Zealand 239/6 (50 overs)	v	England 228/9 (50 overs)	New Zealand won by 11 runs Gujarat Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad Umpires: B.C. Cooray and Steve Randell Player of the match: Nathan Astle (NZ)
	Nathan Astle 101 (132) Graeme Hick 2/45 (9 overs)		Graeme Hick 85 (102) Dion Nash 3/26 (7 overs)

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16 February Scorecard	South Africa 321/2 (50 overs)	v	United Arab Emirates 152/8 (50 overs)	South Africa won by 169 runs Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi Umpires: Steve Bucknor and V.K. Ramaswamy Player of the match: Gary Kirsten (SA)
	Gary Kirsten 188* (159) Johanne Samarasekera 1/39 (9 overs)		Arshad Laeeq 43 (79) Brian McMillan 3/11 (8 overs)

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17 February Scorecard	New Zealand 307/8 (50 overs)	v	Netherlands 188/7 (50 overs)	New Zealand won by 119 runs Moti Bagh Stadium, Baroda Umpires: Khizer Hayat and Ian Robinson Player of the match: Craig Spearman (NZ)
	Craig Spearman 68 (59) Steven Lubbers 3/48 (9 overs)		Roland Lefebvre 45 (64) Chris Harris 3/24 (10 overs)

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18 February Scorecard	United Arab Emirates 136 (48.3 overs)	v	England 140/2 (35 overs)	England won by 8 wickets Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar Umpires: B.C. Cooray and V.K. Ramaswamy Player of the match: Neil Smith (Eng)
	Mazhar Hussain 33 (59) Neil Smith 3/29		Graham Thorpe 44* (66) Arshad Laeeq 1/25 (7 overs)

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20 February Scorecard	New Zealand 177/9 (50 overs)	v	South Africa 178/5 (37.3 overs)	South Africa won by 5 wickets Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad Umpires: Steve Randell and Srinivas Venkataraghavan Player of the match: Hansie Cronje (SA)
	Stephen Fleming 33 (79) Allan Donald 3/34 (10 overs)		Hansie Cronje 78 (64) Nathan Astle 2/10 (3 overs)

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22 February Scorecard	England 279/4 (50 overs)	v	Netherlands 230/6 (50 overs)	England won by 49 runs Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar Umpires: Steve Bucknor and K.T. Francis Player of the match: Graeme Hick (Eng)
	Graeme Hick 104* (133) Roland Lefebvre 1/40 (10 overs)		Klaas van Noortwijk 64 (82) Phil DeFreitas 3/31 (10 overs)

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24 February Scorecard	United Arab Emirates 109/9 (33 overs)	v	Pakistan 112/1 (18 overs)	Pakistan won by 9 wickets Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala Umpires: B.C. Cooray and Srinivas Venkataraghavan Player of the match: Mushtaq Ahmed (Pak)
	Shaukat Dukanwala 21* (19) Mushtaq Ahmed 3/16 (7 overs)		Ijaz Ahmed 50* (57) Johanne Samarasekera 1/17 (3 overs)

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25 February Scorecard	South Africa 230 all out (50 overs)	v	England 152 all out (44.3 overs)	South Africa won by 78 runs Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi Umpires: Steve Randell and Ian Robinson Player of the match: Jonty Rhodes (SA)
	Gary Kirsten 38 (60) Peter Martin 3/33 (10 overs)		Graham Thorpe 46 (69) Shaun Pollock 2/16 (8 overs)

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26 February Scorecard	Netherlands 145/7 (50 overs)	v	Pakistan 151/2 (30.4 overs)	Pakistan won by 8 wickets Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore Umpires: K.T. Francis and Steve Bucknor Player of the match: Waqar Younis (Pak)
	Flavian Aponso 58 Waqar Younis 4/26		Saeed Anwar 83* Peter Cantrell 1/18 (4 overs)

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27 February Scorecard	New Zealand 276/8 (47 overs)	v	United Arab Emirates 167/9 (47 overs)	New Zealand won by 109 runs Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad Umpires: B.C. Cooray and Srinivas Venkataraghavan Player of the match: Roger Twose (NZ)
	Roger Twose 92 (112) Azhar Saeed 3/45 (7 overs)		Johanne Samarasekera 47 (59) Shane Thomson 3/20
Match reduced to 47 overs a side due to heavy fog at the start of the match.

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29 February Scorecard	Pakistan 242/6 (50 overs)	v	South Africa 243/5 (44.2 overs)	South Africa won by 5 wickets National Stadium, Karachi Umpires: K.T. Francis and Steve Bucknor Player of the match: Hansie Cronje (SA)
	Aamir Sohail 111 (139) Hansie Cronje 2/20 (5 overs)		Daryll Cullinan 65 (76) Waqar Younis 3/50 (8 overs)
Bucknor replaced Ian Robinson as an umpire in this match after protests by Pakistan.

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1 March Scorecard	Netherlands 216/9 (50 overs)	v	United Arab Emirates 220/3 (44.2 overs)	United Arab Emirates won by 7 wickets Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore Umpires: Mahboob Shah and Steve Randell Player of the match: Shaukat Dukanwala (UAE)
	Peter Cantrell 47 (106) Shaukat Dukanwala 5/29 (10 overs)		Saleem Raza 84 (68) Roland Lefebvre 1/24 (8 overs)
This was the first ever official ODI between two ICC Associate teams.

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3 March Scorecard	England 249/9 (50 overs)	v	Pakistan 250/3 (47.4 overs)	Pakistan won by 7 wickets National Stadium, Karachi Umpires: B.C. Cooray and Srinivas Venkataraghavan Player of the match: Aamer Sohail (Pak)
	Robin Smith 75 (92) Mushtaq Ahmed 3/53 (10 overs)		Saeed Anwar 71 (72) Dominic Cork 2/59 (10 overs)

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5 March Scorecard	South Africa 328/3 (50 overs)	v	Netherlands 168/8 (50 overs)	South Africa won by 160 runs Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi Umpires: Khizer Hayat and Steve Randell Player of the match: Andrew Hudson (SA)
	Andrew Hudson 161 (132) Eric Gouka 1/32 (2 overs)		Nolan Clarke 32 (46) Allan Donald 2/21 (6 overs)

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6 March Scorecard	Pakistan 281/5 (50 overs)	v	New Zealand 235 (47.3 overs)	Pakistan won by 46 runs Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore Umpires: K.T. Francis and Ian Robinson Player of the match: Saleem Malik (Pak)
	Saeed Anwar 62 (67) Robert Kennedy 1/32 (5 overs)		Stephen Fleming 42 (43) Mushtaq Ahmed 2/32 (10 overs)

 Knockout stage

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	9 March - Faisalabad, Pakistan
	England	235/8
					13 March - Calcutta, India
	Sri Lanka	236/5
					Sri Lanka	251/8
	9 March - Bangalore, India
					India	120/8
	India	287/8
									17 March - Lahore, Pakistan
	Pakistan	248/9
									Sri Lanka	245/3
	11 March - Karachi, Pakistan
									Australia	241/7
	West Indies	264/8
					14 March - Mohali, India
	South Africa	245
					West Indies	202
	11 March - Madras, India
					Australia	207/8
	New Zealand	286/9
	Australia	289/4

 Quarter-finals

9 March Scorecard	England 235/8 (50 overs)	v	Sri Lanka 236/5 (40.4 overs)	Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad Umpires: Mahboob Shah and Ian Robinson Player of the match: Sanath Jayasuriya (SL)
	Phil DeFreitas 67 (64) Kumar Dharmasena 2/30 (10 overs)		Sanath Jayasuriya 82 (44) Dermot Reeve 1/14 (4 overs)

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9 March Scorecard	India 287/8 (50 overs)	v	Pakistan 248/9 (49 overs)	India won by 39 runs M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore Umpires: Steve Bucknor and David Shepherd Player of the match: Navjot Sidhu (Ind)
	Navjot Sidhu 93 (115) Mushtaq Ahmed 2/56 (10 overs)		Aamer Sohail 55 (46) Venkatesh Prasad 3/45 (10 overs)
Pakistan was fined 1 over for a slow over rate

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11 March Scorecard	West Indies 264/8 (50 overs)	v	South Africa 245 (49.3 overs)	West Indies won by 19 runs National Stadium, Karachi Umpires: K.T. Francis and Steve Randell Player of the match: Brian Lara (WI)
	Brian Lara 111 (94) Brian McMillan 2/37 (10 overs)		Daryll Cullinan 69 (78) Roger Harper 4/47 (10 overs)

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11 March Scorecard	New Zealand 286/9 (50 overs)	v	Australia 289/4 (47.5 overs)	Australia won by 6 wickets MA Chidambaram Stadium, Madras Umpires: Cyril Mitchley and Srinivas Venkataraghavan Player of the match: Mark Waugh (Aus)
	Chris Harris 130 (124) Glenn McGrath 2/50 (9 overs)		Mark Waugh 110 (112) Nathan Astle 1/21 (3 overs)

 Semi-finals

13 March Scorecard	Sri Lanka 251/8 (50 overs)	v	India 120/8 (34.1 overs)	Sri Lanka was awarded the match Eden Gardens, Calcutta Umpires: Steve Dunne and Cyril Mitchley Player of the match: Aravinda de Silva (SL)
	Aravinda de Silva 66 (47) Javagal Srinath 3/34 (7 overs)		Sachin Tendulkar 65 (88) Sanath Jayasuriya 3/12 (7 overs)
The match was awarded to Sri Lanka by match referee Clive Lloyd when play could not continue due to the rioting crowd.

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14 March Scorecard	Australia 207/8 (50 overs)	v	West Indies 202 all out (49.3 overs)	Australia won by 5 runs Punjab C.A. Stadium, Mohali Umpires: B.C. Cooray and S Venkataraghavan Player of the match: Shane Warne (Aus)
	Stuart Law 72 (105) Curtly Ambrose 2/26 (10 overs)		Shivnarine Chanderpaul 80 (126) Shane Warne 4/36 (9 overs)

 Final

17 March Scorecard	Australia 241/7 (50 overs)	v	Sri Lanka 245/3 (46.2 overs)	Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore Umpires: Steve Bucknor and David Shepherd Player of the match: Aravinda de Silva (SL)
	Mark Taylor 74 (83) Aravinda de Silva 3/42 (9 overs)		Aravinda de Silva 107 (124) Damien Fleming 1/43 (6 overs)

Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to field. Mark Taylor (74 from 83 balls, 8 fours, 1 six) and Ricky Ponting (45 from 73 balls, 2 fours) shared a second-wicket partnership of 101 runs. When Ponting and Taylor were dismissed, however, Australia fell from 1/137 to 5/170 as the famed 4-pronged spin attack of Sri Lanka took its toll. Despite the slump, Australia struggled on to 241 (7 wickets, 50 overs).

 Statistics

Sachin Tendulkar, the leading run scorer in the tournament.

Anil Kumble, the leading wicket taker in the tournament.

Leading run scorers Runs Player Country 523 Sachin Tendulkar India 484 Mark Waugh Australia 448 Aravinda de Silva Sri Lanka 391 Gary Kirsten South Africa 329 Saeed Anwar Pakistan

Leading wicket takers Wickets Player Country 15 Anil Kumble India 13 Waqar Younis Pakistan 12 Paul Strang Zimbabwe Roger Harper West Indies Damien Fleming Australia Shane Warne Australia

 Allegations on 1996 WC Semi-Final

Vinod Kambli made one of the most shocking allegations in world cricket that he suspected the 1996 World Cup first semi-final played between India and Sri Lanka which India lost due to the rioting crowd, was fixed.^[2] Kambli then said that he was surprised when Indian Captain decided to field first after winning the toss while we were already collectively agreed on that we would bat first if India won the toss.^[3]
Former Indian captain Mohammed Azharuddin said that the allegations are absolutely rubbish that it was made by a person who lacks character.^[4] ICC President Sharad Pawar said that the allegations statement made by Kambli is irresponsible and he would rather believe on players like Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly have to say.^[5]

1996 THEME SONG

The team manager Ajit Wadekar and several Kambli's team-mates during that semi-final including team captain have denied the allegations.^[3] Sourav Ganguly said that Kambli should come up with solid proof. Senior BCCI official Rajeev Shukla said Kambli's claims were not worth investigating and BCCI refused to give importance to the whole issue.^[