Cricket fans should thank West Indies for having provided them with two of the greatest moments in the history of cricket.  On 25th June 1983 at Lords in England, the defeat of undisptued champions and world beating West Indian team to unheralded Indians provided the greatest moment in the history of the game. On 16th May 2010 England defeated hot favourites Australia at Barbados, it was the first ever time that England won a World Cup in 35 years and 12 attempts.  This time around West Indies as the hosts provided the most historic moment for England.

Since the first ever ODI World Cup in 1975 till being crowned champions in T20 England at no point of time England were considered favourites to win the World Cup but one must say to their credit that they gave some strong performances in ODI World Cups till 1992 even though they failed miserably in other ODI tournaments.  England made three finals in 4 World Cup editions in 1979, 1987 and 1992 before losing to eventual champions West Indies, Australia and Pakistan in those finals.  The only occasion they missed a final during this period was in 1983 when they lost to eventual champions India in the semi finals.

Before the start of T20 World in 2010, India and Pakistan were considered favourites and even though England performed well in the tournament and were on a winning spree they were never considered favourites because they lacked killer instinct which gave the Australians and sub continent teams a distinct edge over them.  However one thing which was in England's favour was the fact that they had some players like Morgan, Lumb, Luke Wright, Kieswetter  who though were not big names had a game ideally suited to this format of the game.  While these players were capable of winning matches on their own, they were under no real pressure because the media glare was never on them and they performed without fear, a factor which eventually helped England to win their first ever World Cup tournament.

While savouring England's historic win one must not forget that the most memorable moment of the 2010 T20 World Cup came from Australia's Mike Hussey. With 17 runs needed of 5 deliveries at an imposing 20.40 runs per over, Australian campaign had literally come to an end in the semi finals. However Husseys incredible onslaught which produced a sequence of 6,6,4 and 6 ensured a Australian win with a ball to spare which has to be best ever finish in any format of the game. The onslaught gains more significance considering the fact that it came in a must win pressure situation in the semi final of a World Cup

Englands historic win T20 World Cup win means that South Africa and New Zealand are the only major teams not to have won a World Cup.  The 2011 puts huge pressure on South Africa for they have been rated one of the favourites in every edition of the World Cup since their re entry into international cricket but have failed miserably in living up to expectations in every edition. 

• Written by N R SATISH.
• In category Cricket.
• 14 years ago.

Hot Hits: 1500

Like it on Facebook, Tweet it or share this article on other bookmarking websites.