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
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