World Cup: Most Shocking Exits

Victories remain forever in our minds though some defeats also have the same implications. We look at some of those defeats of World Cup which marked the early exit of so called powerhouses of Cricket.

1999 World Cup: England failing to take home advantage

Starting the tournament in fine fashion, the hosts galloped Lankans in their opening match bowling out the defending champions for a mere 204 runs. The joy couldn’t last for long as England were crushed by South Africa as Allan Donald ripped through England as the hosts were condemned to a massive 122-run hammering.  India sent England crashing out of their own tournament with a convincing 63-run win at Birmingham. Chasing 232, Graham Thorpe’s unlucky LBW dismissal proved to be the game changer. England never recovered and crashed out after losing by 63 runs.

2003 World Cup: South Africa’s fight for luck continues

The proteas were adamant to turn things around with the World Cup being played on their home soil. After a close match against West Indies South Africa needed to secure a win in their final league match against Sri Lanka. A miscalculation of Duckworth-Lewis (D/L) method by the team management saw them being knocked out of the tournament. Rain made South Africa’s 269-run chase interesting. After hitting the penultimate ball of the 45th over for six, Boucher, according to a sheet given to him by the team management, thought his side was ahead on D/L and defended the last ball to mid-wicket as the scoreboard read 229/6. No more play was possible and later it was announced that the hosts actually needed 230 and South Africa could only tie the game, when they needed a win to progress to the next round.

World Cup 2007: India lose to Bangladesh

Starting the tournament as favorites India suffered a humiliating defeat in their opening game against Bangladesh.  Bangladesh, on the back of an inspired spell of seam bowling by Mashrafe Mortaza bestrided their fancied opponents and won the game by five wickets. In their next match against Sri Lanka they crashed to a 69-run defeat against and as a result, members of the squad had to return back home with a forlorn look on their faces.

World Cup 2007: Utter Shock for Pakistan

On the very day when Pakistan’s arch rivals India lost to Bangladesh, they too suffered a tragic loss against the unheralded Ireland at Kingston, Jamaica. Boyd Rankin’s hostile spell and Andre Botha’s pinpoint accuracy bowled out Pakistan for a partly 132. Ireland struggled in their chase, but Trent Johnston showed nerves of steel to get through those heart pounding moments to cause a gigantic upset in the cricketing landscape. Pakistan was forced to pack bags and were shown the exit door early on in the tournament.

World Cup 2015: England humiliated by Bangladesh

Having lost three out of their four group matches, England needed to secure a win against Bangladesh to stay alive in the tournament. Batting first Bangladesh recorded their highest one day total against England riding on Mahmudullah’s elegant hundred. The possibility of elimination clung to England’s pursuit of 276 with only Joe Buttler managing to put up a fight as they lost by 15 runs which marked their earliest exit from the World Cups.