World Cup 2003: Teams, summary, winner, most runs and wickets

The World Cup crossed the Equator again in 2003, this time to Africa. Of the 54 matches, hosts South Africa hosted 46, while Zimbabwe got 8 and Kenya 2. However, England refused to tour Zimbabwe on political grounds and New Zealand did not travel to Kenya, citing security reasons. Both sides had to relinquish their group matches.

Both Zimbabwe and Kenya qualified for the Super Sixes. In fact, Kenya became the first Associate Nation to make it to the semi-final. They beat Sri Lanka en route.

Australia lifted their second World Cup on the trot and third overall, winning all 11 of their matches. India lost to Australia twice – including once in the final – but won the remaining 9 matches.

Other highlights included Shoaib Akhtar becoming the first bowler to breach the 100 mph-barrier as measured by an ICC-approved device; Canada felled Bangladesh on their return to the World Cup after 24 years; and South Africa failing to qualify after miscalculating the revised target as per the Duckworth-Lewis System.

Everything was, however, overshadowed by Andy Flower and Henry Olonga donning black armbands during Zimbabwe’s match against Namibia as a form of protest against the government.

Semi-final 1, St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth, March 18: Australia 212/7 in 50 overs (Symonds 91*, Lehmann 36; Vaas 3/34, de Silva 2/36, Jayasuriya 2/42) beat Sri Lanka 123/7 in 38.1 overs (Sangakkara 39*; Lee 3/35, Hogg 2/30) by 48 runs (D/L Method). Man of the Match: Andrew Symonds.

Semi-final 2, Kingsmead, Durban, March 20: India 270/4 in 50 overs (Ganguly 111*, Tendulkar 83, Sehwag 33) beat Kenya 179 in 46.2 overs (Tikolo 56; Zaheer 3/14, Nehra 2/11, Tendulkar 2/28) by 91 runs. Man of the Match: Sourav Ganguly.

Final, New Wanderers, Johannesburg, March 23: Australia 359/2 in 50 overs (Ponting 140*, Martyn 88*, Gilchrist 57, Hayden 37; Harbhajan 2/49) beat India 234 in 39.2 overs (Sehwag 82, Dravid 47; McGrath 3/52, Symonds 2/7, Lee 2/31) by 125 runs. Man of the Match: Ricky Ponting. Man of the Series: Sachin Tendulkar.

Most runs: Sachin Tendulkar (India) – 673 runs, 11 matches
Most wickets: Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka) – 23 wickets, 10 matches