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Benson & Hedges World Cup Cricket 1992: Facts, figures, and statistics

The 1992 World Cup saw eight hundreds, though none in excess of 120.

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Wasim Akram (left) and Javed Miandad celebrate Pakistan's win © Getty Images
Wasim Akram (left) and Javed Miandad celebrate Pakistan’s win © Getty Images

Every team playing eight matches against each other left the tournament wide open for contest. Though the charts were dominated by men from Pakistan, New Zealand, and England, other countries made their appearances as well. However, despite some excellent bowling performances, World Cup 1992 would probably be remembered, among other reasons, for the only World Cup that did not witness a five-wicket haul.

Martin Crowe’s impact as the leading batsman and the supreme strategist won him the Man of the Series award, the first of its kind in the history of the tournament. However, the presence of two Pakistanis in to five on both batting (Javed Miandad and Rameez Raja) and bowling (Wasim Akram and Mushtaq Ahmed) told the story.

Batting records: Crowe, as mentioned, finished as the leading run-scorer of the tournament, with Miandad finishing 19 runs behind. The tournament also saw Miandad edge past Viv Richards’ tally of 1,013 runs and finish on 1,029. Peter Kirsten was the only other one to finish in excess of 400.

Most runs                    
  M I NO R BF HS Ave SR 100s 50s
Martin Crowe 9 9 5 456 502 100* 114.00 90.8 1 4
Javed Miandad 9 9 2 437 698 89 62.43 62.6 5
Peter Kirsten 8 8 2 410 616 90 68.33 66.6 4
David Boon 8 8 1 368 534 100 52.57 68.9 2
Rameez Raja 8 8 2 349 539 119* 58.17 64.7 2

The top four do not change from the previous table, but Neil Fairbrother, “The Englishman Who Refused to Get Out”, finished with an average of 57. He played a crucial role in England’s journey to the final.

Highest batting averages (150 or more runs)          
  M I NO R BF HS Ave SR 100s 50s
Martin Crowe 9 9 5 456 502 100* 114.00 90.8 1 4
Peter Kirsten 8 8 2 410 616 90 68.33 66.6 4
Javed Miandad 9 9 2 437 698 89 62.43 62.6 5
Rameez Raja 8 8 2 349 539 119* 58.17 64.7 2
Neil Fairbrother 9 7 2 285 412 75* 57.00 69.2 3

Kapil topped the strike rates for the third consecutive time. Crowe himself made an appearance, as did Mark Greatbatch, a crucial cog of Crowe’s plan. With two outstanding innings in the semi-final, Inzamam-ul-Haq arrived on the scenario, albeit as a brutal hitter of the ball.

Highest strike rates (150 or more runs)            
  M I NO R BF HS Ave SR 100s 50s
Kapil Dev 8 8 1 161 128 42 23.00 125.8
Andy Waller 8 8 2 192 191 83* 32.00 100.5 1
Inzamam-ul-Haq 10 10 225 240 60 22.50 93.8 1
Martin Crowe 9 9 5 456 502 100* 114.00 90.8 1 4
Mark Greatbatch 7 7 313 356 73 44.71 87.9 3

The World Cup saw eight hundreds, though none in excess of 120. Rameez and David Boon emulated Glenn Turner (1975) and Geoff Marsh (1987) in registering two hundreds in the same World Cup; Rameez also equalled Richards’ tally of three World Cup hundreds.

Hundreds      
  Score Against Venue
Rameez Raja 119* New Zealand Christchurch
Andy Flower 115* Sri Lanka New Plymouth
Aamer Sohail 114 Zimbabwe Bellerive Oval
Phil Simmons 110 Sri Lanka Berri
Rameez Raja 102* West Indies MCG
Martin Crowe 100* Australia Eden Park
David Boon 100 New Zealand Eden Park
David Boon 100 West Indies MCG

Bowling records: If Wasim was the bowler of the tournament, a 36-year old Ian Botham, well past his prime, was no less. With an average of 19 and an economy rate less than 3.50, Botham finished as joint second-highest wicket-taker to go with his explosive cameos at the top. Eddo Brandes made an appearance as well, which probably indicated how competitive the tournament was.

Most wickets
  B R W BB Ave SR Econ 5WIs
Wasim Akram 538 338 18 4/32 18.78 29.9 3.77
Ian Botham 534 306 16 4/31 19.13 33.4 3.44
Mushtaq Ahmed 468 311 16 3/41 19.44 29.3 3.99
Chris Harris 433 342 16 3/15 21.38 27.1 4.74
Eddo Brandes 421 355 14 4/21 25.36 30.1 5.06

While the top three on the wickets chart remained intact on the averages chart, two entries — Manoj Prabhakar and Anderson Cummins — were from the non-semi-finalists. Once again, this proved the intensity of the contest.

Best averages (10 or more wickets)
  B R W BB Ave SR Econ 5WIs
Wasim Akram 538 338 18 4/32 18.78 29.9 3.77
Ian Botham 534 306 16 4/31 19.13 33.4 3.44
Mushtaq Ahmed 468 311 16 3/41 19.44 29.3 3.99
Manoj Prabhakar 343 245 12 3/41 20.42 28.6 4.29
Anderson Cummins 354 246 12 4/33 20.50 29.5 4.17

Chris Harris, known more for his wicket-to-wicket slow-medium paced bowling with the occasional leg-break thrown in, finished joint second on the wickets tally — and first in terms of strike rate. Prabhakar and Cummins finished second and third.

Best strike rates (10 or more wickets)
  B R W BB Ave SR Econ 5WIs
Chris Harris 433 342 16 3/15 21.38 27.1 4.74
Manoj Prabhakar 343 245 12 3/41 20.42 28.6 4.29
Mushtaq Ahmed 468 311 16 3/41 19.44 29.3 3.99
Anderson Cummins 354 246 12 4/33 20.50 29.5 4.17
Wasim Akram 538 338 18 4/32 18.78 29.9 3.77

The very fact that Dipak Patel was the most economic bowler of the tournament bore testimony to Crowe’s genius. That man Botham featured again, while Craig McDermott, leading wicket-taker of the 1987 edition, made an appearance.

Best economy rates (100 or more balls)
  B R W BB Ave SR Econ 5WIs
Dipak Patel 474 245 8 2/26 30.63 59.3 3.10
Mike Whitney 396 215 9 4/34 23.89 44.0 3.26
Derek Pringle 400 218 7 3/8 31.14 57.1 3.27
Craig McDermott 438 246 8 2/29 30.75 54.8 3.37
Ian Botham 534 306 16 4/31 19.13 33.4 3.44

Somewhat surprisingly, though there were eight four-wicket hauls (all by different bowlers), for the first time in history there was no five-for in an entire World Cup. Meyrick Pringle’s four for 11 against West Indies at Christchurch remained the best figures.

Fielding and wicket-keeping: Dave Richardson leading the glovemen’s list may not be surprising, but David Williams’ appearance probably was. Of the other non-semi-finalists, Ian Healy finished joint fourth.

Most dismissals as wicket-keeper
M C S D D/M
Dave Richardson 9 14 1 15 1.67
David Williams 8 11 3 14 1.75
Moin Khan 10 11 3 14 1.40
Ian Healy 7 9 9 1.29
Alec Stewart 10 8 1 9 0.90

Kepler Wessels finished at the top of the chart, followed by that man Fairbrother, but barring them there was no one who really dominated the list of catchers despite South Africa (led by Jonty Rhodes) taking the entire concept of fielding to another echelon.

Most catches as fielder  
  M C C/M
Kepler Wessels 9 7 0.78
Neil Fairbrother 9 6 0.67
Chris Cairns 5 5 1.00
Allan Border 8 5 0.63
Gavin Larsen 9 5 0.56
Dermot Reeve 9 5 0.56
Phil DeFreitas 10 5 0.50
Graeme Hick 10 5 0.50

Record partnerships: West Indies chased down a target of 221 against Pakistan at MCG without the loss of a wicket. Desmond Haynes and Brian Lara put up an unbroken stand of 175 before the latter had to retire hurt. Haynes and Richie Richardson ensured no other wicket was lost.

Highest partnerships
Wicket Runs Batsman 1 Batsman 2 Against Venue
1 175* Desmond Haynes Brian Lara Pakistan MCG
2 127 Mohammad Azharuddin Sachin Tendulkar New Zealand Dunedin
3 145 Aamer Sohail Javed Miandad Zimbabwe Bellerive Oval
4 118 Martin Crowe Ken Rutherford Australia Eden Park
5 145* Andrew Flower Andy Waller Sri Lanka New Plymouth
6 83* Keith Arthurton Carl Hooper India Basin Reserve
7 46 Desmond Haynes Gus Logie South Africa Christchurch
8 33 Graeme Labrooy Champaka Ramanayake England Ballarat
9 44 Gavin Larsen Danny Morrison Pakistan Christchurch
10 28* Ruwan Kalpage Pramodya Wickramasinghe West Indies Berri

Team aggregates

As it had happened often before, the five highest scores were all piled up against the two weakest teams — Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. There was a catch, though: at New Plymouth Zimbabwe amassed 312 for four before Sri Lanka chased it down. They remained the only 300-plus scores of the tournament.

Highest team scores
Team Score Against Venue
Sri Lanka 313/7 (49.4) Zimbabwe New Plymouth
Zimbabwe 312/4 (50) Sri Lanka New Plymouth
England 280/6 (50) Sri Lanka Ballarat
West Indies 268/8 (50) Sri Lanka Berri
Australia 265/6 (50) Zimbabwe Bellerive Oval

Pakistan were bowled out for a mere 74 at Adelaide Oval, but rain washed the match off after England were 24 for one in eight overs. The next two lowest scores came at Albury, were Zimbabwe were bowled out for 134 before Eddo Brandes routed England for 125.

Lowest team scores (excludes rain-reduced matches)
Team Score Against Venue
Pakistan 74 (40.2) England Adelaide Oval
England 125 (49.1) Zimbabwe Albury
Zimbabwe 134 (46.1) England Albury
West Indies 136 (38.4) South Africa Christchurch
Zimbabwe 137 (41.4) Australia Bellerive Oval

Biggest margins of victory

By runs: 128

Australia 265/6 (46) beat Sri Lanka 137 (41.4)

By wickets: 10

Pakistan 220/2 (50) lost to West Indies 221/0 (46.5)

By balls to spare: 93

South Africa 190/7 (50) lost to New Zealand 191/3 (34.3)

Smallest margins of victory

By runs: 1

Australia 237/9 (50) beat India 234 (47) — target reduced to 236 from 47

By wickets: 3

Zimbabwe 312/4 (50) lost to Sri Lanka 313/7 (49.2)

South Africa 195 (50) lost to Sri Lanka 198/7 (49.5)

South Africa 236/4 (50) lost to England 226/7 (40.5) — target reduced to 226 from 41

By balls to spare: 1

South Africa 195 (50) lost to Sri Lanka 198/7 (49.5)

South Africa 236/4 (50) lost to England 226/7 (40.5) — target reduced to 226 from 41

World Cup Cricket 1992: A history, matches, numbers, trivia, and key players of 5th cricket World Cup

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