5 World Cup Matches Where Teams Lost Due To ICC Rules

Cricket World Cup 2019 ended on a stunning note with hosts England and New Zealand playing out arguably the greatest World Cup final ever. 102 overs of action could not separate both the teams as the scores were level after the first 100 overs as well as the super overs. Eventually, England walked away with the World Cup because of hitting more number of boundaries.

The cricketing world has been busy criticising the ICC rule book since the game ended. Well, this is not the first any team was let down by the ICC rules. So through this article, we take a look at five games where a deserving team had to lose the game because of ICC rules.

5. South Africa vs England – 1992 World Cup:

South Africa were playing their first-ever World Cup in 1992 and stormed into the semifinal where they were up against England.  Put in to bat, England scored 252/6 in 45 overs. The innings was curtailed as South Africa had a slow over rate, for which they were later fined. South Africa put up a good show with the bat and eventually needed 47 from 30 balls with four wickets in hand.

David Richardson and Brian McMillan reduced the equation to 22 from 13. This is when South Africa’s World Cup hopes were washed away. Despite only 12 minutes lost due to rain, South Africa needed to score 22 from 7.  This later turned out to be a farce, as moments later the target was revised to 22 off 1 ball.

4. South Africa vs Australia – 1999 World Cup:

South Africa suffered yet another exit from the World Cup at the semifinal stage due to the rule books. In the 1999 World Cup semifinal, they managed to restrict Australia to 213 despite 50s from Michael Bevan and Steve Waugh.

Shane Warne‘s four wickets then helped Australia claw their way back in the game. However, Lance Klusener was holding firm from his end. The equation was down to just one run from 4 balls with Klusener on strike and Allan Donald for company. But when Klusener miscued one straight down the ground and set for a single, Donald stayed in his ground before dropping his bat and running away. But before Donald could reach the crease, the wicketkeeper had run him out. The match was tied but eventual champions Australia went into the final on superior net run rate.

3. South Africa vs Sri Lanka – 2003 World Cup:

South Africa suffered another World Cup heartbreak in 2003. They were the favourites for the tournament that was being played on their own soil. They were up against Sri Lanka in a must-win clash before rain ended their World Cup hopes. South Africa skipper Shaun Pollock got his Duckworth-Lewis calculations horribly wrong in Durban and it cost his side the chance to progress ahead.

With rain coming fast, the calculations came from the dressing room for Lance Klusenar and Mark Boucher – 229 was needed by the end of the 45th over. Boucher, having hit Muttiah Muralidaran for six to reach 229, celebrated then blocked the final ball of the 45th over and turned down a single as the rain lashed the venue. As the rain tumbled, South Africa’s delight turned to despair as 229 was the score for a tie, not a win.

2. Pakistan in World Cup 2019:

When Pakistan lost to India, they had only three points from five matches of the 2019 World Cup. It looked all over for them at that moment. However, the Men in Green bounced back in style to win their remaining four games. By the end of the group stage, Pakistan and New Zealand had the same number of points – 11.

However, New Zealand made it through because of better net run-rate. Quite a number of former cricketers had criticised the rule after Pakistan’s ouster from the competition.

1. New Zealand vs England – 2019 World Cup:

This was perhaps the biggest price that a team had to pay because of the ICC rules. By the end of the regulation overs, both the teams had scored the same number of runs – 241. In the super over too, they scored 15 each. In the end New Zealand had to concede the World Cup because of hitting lesser number of boundaries.