World Cup Knockouts at Eden Gardens: The rise of Australia as a power in 1987, and the meltdown of Indian team in 1996

World Cup Knockouts at Eden Gardens: Australia won their first World Cup at the Eden Gardens in 1987 when they beat England. India, on the other hand, lost the semi-final of the 1996 World Cup to Sri Lanka at the same ground, in the only two knockout matches of the 50-over World Cup. South African will take on Australia in the semi-final of the 2023 World Cup on the same ground on Thursday (November 16).

World Cup Knockouts at Eden Gardens: Eden Gardens, once the largest stadium in India, still has the capacity for 68,000 people. Image Courtesy: https://www.bcci.tv/venues

World Cup Knockouts at Eden Gardens: The second semi-final of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 between South Africa and Australia on Thursday (November 16) is back at a place that has witnessed a team winning its first World Cup crown in 1987, and the Indian team losing its worst World Cup semi-final in 1996. The venue for the South Africa-Australia clash is the Eden Gardens in the City of Joy-Kolkata. The Eden Gardens, the Colosseum, or the Mecca of Indian cricket, has witnessed the glories and downfalls of world beaters and minnows; the records being broken and nightmarish performances being delivered. However, one thing that lasts forever here is the joy of a boisterous crowd that fills the enthusiasm in players mostly, and also forces them to reel under pressure sometimes. In its long history, the Eden Gardens has hosted two ICC World Cup knockout matches. The first was the final of the the 1987 Reliance Cup between Australia and England, and the second was a forgettable 1996 World Cup semi-final between India and Sri Lanka, when the crowd forced the match referee to stop the match and declare Sri Lanka the winner. In this write-up, ZeeBiz takes you down the memory lane of the two ICC World Cup knockout matches at the venue.

1987 Reliance Cup final, Australia and England

Being the reigning world champions, India were one of the favourites to win the World Cup, which was being played for the first time outside England. But England, having lost to India four years back at the 1983 Prudential Cup semi-final, beat them in the 1987 semis to storm into the final, where they were up against Australia. The venue of the title clash was the Eden Gardens, and it was also the first ground hosting a World Cup final other than the Lord's, where title clashes at the 1975, 1979, and 1983 World Cups took place. Australia skipper Allen Borden won the toss and elected to bat first. David Boon (75 runs, 125 balls) played a fine innings in the top order, and and Mike Veletta (54 runs, 31 balls) cut loose late in the innings as Australia amassed 65 runs in the last six overs to post 253 for five wickets in 50 overs. England had a poor start to their chase when their opener, Tim Robinson, was lbw out for a zero. Bill Athey (58 runs, 103 balls), Mike Gatting (41 runs from 45 balls), and Allan Lamb (45 runs, 55 balls) helped England stage a recovery, but they needed 17 runs in the last over to win the title. The team managed 10 runs in the over, and Australia won their first World Cup title.

1996 World Cup semi-final, India vs Sri Lanka

This semi-final goes down as the worst ICC knockout match in the history of Indian cricket. It was at a time when Sachin Tendulkar was in excellent form and the semi-final was being played at the Eden Gardens in front of a supporting crowd. Sri Lanka batted first. When India seamer Javagal Srinath sent Man-of-the-Tournament Sanath Jayasuriya, Romesh Kaluwitharana, and Asanka Gurusingha back with the scoreboard reading 35 for 3, it looked like Sri Lanka were staring at a low score and a possible defeat. But Aravinda de Silva (66 runs, 47 balls), Roshan Mahanama (58 runs, 101 balls), and Arjuna Ranatunga (35 runs, 42 balls) steadied Sri Lanka's ship to guide their team to a respectable total of 251 runs for 8 in 50 overs. In reply, hopes were high for Tendulkar, who had scored 137 runs in a losing cause against Sri Lanka in the league match of the World Cup at the Ferozeshah Kola ground in New Delhi. Tendulkar rose to the occasion and played a fine innings of (65 runs, 88 balls) despite India losing another opener, Navjot Singh Sidhu, early. The crowd was in its element with their favourite player, Tendulkar, hitting one boundary after another. But once Tendulkar was stumped out with the team at 98, started the worst meltdown of the Indian team in a World Cup knockout match. Sri Lanka reduced the Indian team to 120 for 8 in 34.1 overs. That was the time when the crowd started throwing bottles and fruits onto the field. The Sri Lankan team left the ground to quieten the crowd and returned 20 minutes later. However, the crowd didn't mend its ways and continued throwing more bottles on the ground. It also lit a fire in the stands. It was the time when match referee Clive Lloyd stopped play and awarded the match to Sri Lanka, the first time it was done in the history of ODIs and Test cricket. The image of Vinod Kambli, who was unbeaten at 10 at the time, returning to the pavilion, wiping tears from his eyes, is one of the worst memories for the Indian cricket fans of that generation.

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