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Too good an 
opportunity to miss

The elder statesman of the tourney -
Alec Stewart

by Sa'adi Thawfeeq

Do you know that the first International Cricket Council (ICC) knockout mini World Cup would have been held in Disney World if the ground was ready in time?

Instead, it went to Dhaka, Bangladesh and it proved to be a roaring success. It achieved its primary objective, raising funds around US $ 16 m to develop the game worldwide.

In most respects, the second ICC knockout mini World Cup staged in Kenya was also a tremendous success. But unlike the inaugural one played in Bangladesh which drew unprecedented crowds despite the host nation not being part of the competition, the second showed a lack of local interest. While India's matches attracted decent numbers of expatriates, indigenous Kenyans were noticeable by their absence throughout.

How will the Sri Lankan spectators respond to the ICC's third mini World Cup which will be held in Colombo from September 12 to 29? The next three weeks will tell the world governing body for the sport whether bringing the contest for the first time to a full member country has proved successful.

Unlike the first two competitions, the third ran into trouble with some of the leading players in the world when the ICC insisted that all participating players sign an agreement which would not conflict with their (ICC) sponsorships for the tournament. This controversial agreement which the ICC described as putting a stop to ambush marketing was not agreeable to some of the mega stars, especially from India and South Africa who deliberated until almost a week before the championship was about to begin before compromising with the ICC. Until such a decision was finally reached there was fear that the tournament might be shorn off its gloss in the absence of the superstars and fears that it may even be cancelled. Thankfully it survived the storm.

The first two tournaments were conducted on a knockout basis with each game being a shoot-out which left the competing teams with hardly any chance of even thinking of 'throwing' a match because every game was important to reach the final. However that format also had its drawbacks. Some of the top nations like Australia, Pakistan and India made early exits from the tournament that took the glint off the final.

In an effort to curb such exits, the ICC has changed the format this time to a pooling system where the top teams can still survive after a defeat to make it to the final. However the matches for the Colombo Championships have been arranged in such a manner that the winner of Pools 1, 3 and 4 will be more or less decided by the first match of the respective pool. For example, Sri Lanka play Pakistan in Pool 4 (third team Holland), South Africa play West Indies in Pool 3 (third team Kenya), and Australia play New Zealand in Pool 1 (third team Bangladesh). Only Pool 2 is nicely balanced with India, England and Zimbabwe.

Only the nine Test playing nations (at that time) took part in the first tournament at Dhaka which was won by South Africa who defeated West Indies in the final by four wickets. West Indies put into bat by South Africa looked headed for a big score with opener Philo Wallace powering his way to 103 off 102 balls. But Jacques Kallis who won the Man-of-the-Match Award put the brakes on them with career best figures of five for 30 off 7.3 overs as West Indies crashed from 180-3 to 245 all out in 49.3 overs. South Africa guided by skipper Hansie Cronje's unbeaten knock of 61 not out off 77 balls cruised home in 47 overs.

In the semi-finals, South Africa defeated Sri Lanka by 92 runs in a match decided on the Duckworth/Lewis method because of rain, and West Indies accounted for India by six wickets. Australia who won the World Cup the following year was eliminated in the quarter-final losing by 44 runs to India.

Bangladesh and Kenya joined the roll of entrants for the second competition in Kenya. They were knocked out in the first round along with fading West Indies. But India made the biggest strides advancing to the final by defeating Australia (the World Champs) and South Africa (the defending ICC Knockout Champs).

However their progress was halted by New Zealand who celebrated their first-ever final with a hard fought four-wicket win which was achieved with just two balls to spare.

Chris Cairns was the New Zealand hero returning bravely from a knee injury to win the match with an inspirational century (102 not out) sharing with the cool-headed Chris Harris (46) a sixth wicket partnership of 122 which lifted the Kiwis from a disappointing 132-5 to pass India's challenging score of 264-6. India's batting was thrust up by an opening stand of 141 between skipper Sourav Ganguly (117) and Sachin Tendulkar (69) after which New Zealand were able to put a strangle on the run rate with Cairns bowling two maidens in his ten overs which cost only 40 runs. In the semi-final New Zealand beat Pakistan by four wickets and India accounted for South africa by 95 runs.

Sri Lanka were eliminated in the quarter-finals when they lost to Pakistan by nine wickets. Australia once again were unlucky to come up against India in their opening match and lost by 20 runs. They at least have the satisfaction in the present tournament not to be grouped with their nemesis. By bringing the third edition of the mini World Cup to Sri Lanka, the ICC is giving a rare chance for cricket followers, enthusiasts and supporters of the game here to witness the top stars of all ten Test playing nations in action in one tournament. It is too good an opportunity to be missed.

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