2003 Cricket World Cup
The 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup was the eighth Cricket World Cup, organized by the International Cricket Council. It was co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya from 9 February to 23 March 2003. This edition of the World Cup was the first to be played in Africa.
The tournament featured 14 teams, the largest number in the World Cup's history at the time, playing a total of 54 matches. It followed the format introduced in the 1999 Cricket World Cup, with the teams divided into two groups, and the top three in each group qualifying for the Super Sixes stage.
The tournament saw numerous upsets, with South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies and England all being eliminated at the group stage. England forfeited their match with Zimbabwe, due to the political unrest in the country, which ultimately enabled that team to reach the Super Sixes. Similarly, New Zealand forfeited their match with Kenya, due to security reasons which enabled the latter to reach the semi-finals, the only non-Test playing nation to do so. Another shock wave came two days after the tournament had started, when Shane Warne, at the time one of the game's leading spinners, was sent home in disgrace after testing positive for a banned substance.
The tournament was eventually won by Australia who won all 11 of their matches, beating India in the final played at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. This was Australia's third World Cup win, the only team to do so. Pakistani player Shoaib Akhtar also set a world record, becoming the fastest bowler in the history of cricket, delivering a record top speed of 161.3km/h in a pool match against England.
Teams and squads
Fourteen teams played in the 2003 World Cup, the largest number of teams to play in a Cricket World Cup at the time. The 10 Test playing nations automatically qualified for the tournament including the recently appointed member Bangladesh, while Kenya also qualified automatically due to their full One Day International status. The other three spots were filled by the top three teams in the 2001 ICC Trophy in Canada, which served as a qualifying tournament. These teams were, respectively, the Netherlands who won the ICC Trophy, Canada and Namibia. This was Namibia's World Cup debut, while the Netherlands and Canada were both appearing in the tournament for the second time, having previously appeared in 1996 and 1979 respectively.The format used in the 1999 World Cup was retained, with the 14 teams divided into two groups of seven, and the top three from each group qualifying for the Super Sixes stage, carrying forward the results they had achieved against other qualifiers from their group. The top four teams in the Super Sixes qualified for the semi-finals, and the winners of those matches contested the final.
Host cities and venues
Group stage tables and results
The top three teams from each pool qualify for the next stage, carrying forward the points already scored against fellow qualifiers, plus a quarter of the points scored against the teams that failed to qualify.Pool A
Pool B
Super Sixes
Australia, India, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Kenya, and New Zealand advanced to the Super Sixes stage.Points carried forward were calculated as follows: Four points for a win over another qualifier, one for a win over a non-qualifier, two for a tie or no result against another qualifier, 0.5 for a tie or no result against a non-qualifier.
Teams that advanced to the semi-finals are highlighted in blue.
| Team | Pld | W | L | NR | T | NRR | Pts | PCF |
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.85 | 24 | 12 | |
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.89 | 20 | 8 | |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.35 | 14 | 10 | |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | −0.84 | 11.5 | 7.5 | |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | −0.90 | 8 | 4 | |
| 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | −1.25 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
Semi finals
On a difficult, slow pitch at Port Elizabeth, Australia struggled their way to 212 against tight Sri Lankan bowling, thanks mainly to a great innings from Andrew Symonds, demonstrating again captain Ricky Ponting's faith in him. Chaminda Vaas, continuing his excellent tournament, took three wickets. Australia's pace attack then ripped through the Sri Lankan top order, with Brett Lee taking three early wickets and Glenn McGrath taking one. By the time rain arrived in the 39th over, continued tight bowling had squeezed Sri Lanka to 123, well behind the target given by the Duckworth–Lewis method. This is the match in which Adam Gilchrist famously "walked" despite being given not out.----
The fairytale ended for the Kenyan team, the only non-Test-playing nation to ever make a World Cup semi-final. Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, batted the Kenyans out of the game as India careered to a total of 270. Under the Durban lights, the potent Indian seam attack of Zaheer Khan, the experienced Javagal Srinath and Ashish Nehra careered through the Kenyan top order. Kenya were bowled out for 179, with only Steve Tikolo putting up any significant resistance.
Final
India won the toss, and Ganguly, elected to field, hoping to take advantage of a pitch left damp by dew and rain. On a lively Wanderers Stadium pitch, the Australian openers took advantage of very wayward Indian opening bowlers to get off to a flying start. Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden shared an opening partnership of 105 runs in 14 overs, forcing Ganguly to bring on the spinners unusually early. The change of pace brought wickets with Adam Gilchrist, who had been swinging at everything, holing out off a sweep shot from the bowling of Harbhajan Singh. Matthew Hayden, looking somewhat better than he had throughout the tournament, soon followed for 37, leaving Australia at 2/125 Captain Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn completing a partnership of 234 runs in 30.1 overs, an Australian record for one-day cricket. Ponting and Martyn started efficiently, putting away bad balls but mostly keeping the scoring going with good running, then letting loose in the last ten overs, taking 109 from them. Ponting in particular dispatched the bowling over the fence with fearsome regularity in scoring 8 sixes, the most from one batsman in any World Cup match at the time. The final Australian total of 359, at a run rate of 7.18 runs an over, was their then highest ever in ODI history.India's run chase was made even more difficult after their trump card, Sachin Tendulkar, was out in the first over after skying a pull shot, Glenn McGrath completing the caught and bowled. Nevertheless, Virender Sehwag's run-a-ball half century gave India respectability as they maintained a high scoring rate. Their only realistic hope—a washout—looked a possibility as the game was interrupted by rain with India at 3/103 after 17 overs. However, this rain passed by, and India's hopes were dashed when Sehwag was run out by Darren Lehmann, and again when Rahul Dravid was bowled by Andy Bichel, ending their partnership of 88 runs in 13.2 overs. India's batsmen continued to throw wickets away in the chase as the run rate crept up past 7 an over, and they were finally bowled out for 234 at a run rate of 5.97 runs an over giving Australia an emphatic victory by a record margin of 125 runs, underlining their dominance of the tournament. Ponting was named "Man of the Match", and Sachin Tendulkar was named "Player of the Series."