The 1991-92 World Cup saw several changes from previous tournaments:
- the first World Cup to have day/night matches[1]
- the first World Cup to use white cricket balls and coloured team uniforms[1]
- A controversial system of recalculating team totals for a reduced number of overs for matches affected by rain was introduced.[1]
- the first World Cup to feature an African Test nation - South Africa.
- the first World Cup held in the Southern hemisphere.
- New techniques were used
- pinch-hitters (Batsmen sent in the early stages (higher order) to hit the ball over the infield to ensure a good start to the innings)
- New Zealand opening with spin bowlers to confuse the higher order batsmen who are used to fast bowlers trying to extract speed and bounce with the new ball
The format was changed from the 1987 World Cup to accommodate South Africa. Nine countries participated in the event and, for the first time, the teams were not divided into groups. The first stage involved a complete round-robin and required 36 matches. The top four teams qualified for the semi-finals.
Overview of the tournament
The countries participating were all Test nations, with the exception of Zimbabwe:
- Australia
- England
- India
- New Zealand
- Pakistan
- South Africa
- Sri Lanka
- West Indies
- Zimbabwe
The 1992 World Cup was won by Pakistan, captained by Imran Khan, who beat England by 22 runs in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), to see the "Cornered tigers" and Imran Khan lift the trophy. Pakistan won just one of their first five matches and only qualified for the semi-finals by beating the previously undefeated New Zealand side in their final round robin game. In one of the games Pakistan looked set to lose with England on 24-1 chasing Pakistan's score of 74 all out, but were saved by a spell of rain, which left the game as a no-result, the sides taking one point each. Without that point Pakistan would not have qualified for the semi-finals. New Zealand and South Africa were the losing semi-finalists.
South Africa's semi-final against England ended in controversial circumstances when, after a rain delay, the rule in use for revising target scores in rain-affected matches revised their target from 22 runs from 13 balls to an impossible 21 runs from one ball. This rule was replaced for One-day International matches in Australia after the World Cup, and it was eventually superseded by the Duckworth-Lewis method for the 1999 World Cup onwards. The revised D/L target for the match would have been four runs to tie or five to win from the final ball. [2]
A notable feature of this World Cup was the innovative tactics employed by New Zealand captain Martin Crowe, who opened his team's bowling with a spin bowler, Dipak Patel, rather than with a fast bowler, as is usual practice. Another innovation was the opening of the New Zealand batting by pinch hitters.
New Zealand lost only two matches in the tournament, a Group match and their Semi-final, both against Pakistan.
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