Eighth Cricket World Cup 2003

The eighth edition of ODI World Cup was played in three countries, comprising of South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya, from February 9 to March 24, 2003. It saw the number of participating teams increase to 14, comprising of Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Kenya, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, and Zimbabwe, along with the ICC Trophy Qualifiers - Canada, Namibia, and the Netherlands. A total of 54 matches were played in the tournament (the most in World Cup history so far), following the same format that was introduced in 1999.

The 8th ICC Cricket World Cup saw the teams being divided into two groups, each with seven teams. The top three teams of each group, i.e. Australia, India, Kenya, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and Zimbabwe, competed with each other in the 'Super-6' stage. Out of these, Australia, Sri Lanka, India and Kenya qualified for the semi-finals. The final was played between Australia and India, with the former defeating the latter by 48 runs. Ricky Ponting was named "Man of the Match" in the final; while Sachin Tendulkar was awarded 'Player of the Series' (he also scored the maximum runs – 673). Chaminda Vaas took the maximum number of wickets (23) in the series.

2003 ICC World Cup statistics

• Administrator - International Cricket Council
• Cricket format - One Day International
• Tournament formats - Round robin and Knockout
• Hosts - South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya
• Champions - Australia (3rd title)
• Participants - 14
• Matches played - 54
• Attendance - 626,845 (11,608 per match)
• Most runs - Sachin Tendulkar (673)
• Most wickets - Chaminda Vaas (23)
• Player of the series - Sachin Tendulkar (India)

Results Summary
Group A

• Zimbabwe v Namibia at Harare, Feb 10, 2003, Zimbabwe won by 86 runs (D/L method) (Zim 340/2; Nam 104/5)
• Australia v Pakistan at Johannesburg, Feb 11, 2003, Australia won by 82 runs (Aus 310/8; Pak 228)
• India v Netherlands at Paarl, Feb 12, 2003, India won by 68 runs (Ind 204; NL 136)
• Zimbabwe v England at Harare, Feb 13, 2003, Zimbabwe won by a walkover without a ball bowled
• Australia v India at Centurion, Feb 15, 2003 Australia won by 9 wickets, (Ind 125; Aus 128/1)
• England v Netherlands at East London, Feb 16, 2003, England won by 6 wickets (NL 142/9; Eng 144/4)
• Namibia v Pakistan at Kimberley, Feb 16, 2003, Pakistan won by 171 runs (Pak 255/9; Nam 84)
• England v Namibia at Port Elizabeth, Feb 19, 2003, England won by 55 runs (Eng 272; Nam 217/9)
• Zimbabwe v India at Harare, Feb 19, 2003, India won by 83 runs (Ind 255/7; Zim 172)
• Australia v Netherlands at Potchefstroom, Feb 20, 2003, Australia won by 75 runs (D/L Method) (Aus 170/2; NL 122)
• England v Pakistan at Cape Town, Feb 22, 2003, England won by 112 runs (Eng 246/8; Pak 134)
• India v Namibia at Pietermaritzburg, Feb 23, 2003, India won by 181 runs (Ind 311/2; Nam 130)
• Zimbabwe v Australia at Bulawayo, Feb 24, 2003, Australia won by 7 wickets (Zim 246/9; Aus 248/3)
• Netherlands v Pakistan at Paarl, Feb 25, 2003, Pakistan won by 97 runs (Pak 253/9; NL 156)
• England v India at Durban, Feb 26, 2003, India won by 82 runs (Ind 250/9; Eng 168)
• Australia v Namibia at Potchefstroom, Feb 27, 2003, Australia won by 256 runs (Aus 301/6; Nam 45)
• Zimbabwe v Netherlands at Bulawayo, Feb 28, 2003, Zimbabwe won by 99 runs (Zim 301/8; NL 202/9)
• India v Pakistan at Centurion, Mar 1, 2003, India won by 6 wickets (Pak 273/7; Ind 276/4)
• Australia v England at Port Elizabeth, Mar 2, 2003, Australia won by 2 wickets (Eng 204/8; Aus 208/8)
• Namibia v Netherlands at Bloemfontein, Mar 3, 2003, Netherlands won by 64 runs (NL 314/4; Nam 250)
• Zimbabwe v Pakistan at Bulawayo, Mar 4, 2003, No result (Pak 73/3)

Group B

• South Africa v West Indies at Cape Town, Feb 9, 2003, West Indies won by 3 runs (WI 278/5; SA 275/9)
• New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Bloemfontein, Feb 10, 2003, Sri Lanka won by 47 runs (SL 272/7; NZ 225)
• Bangladesh v Canada at Durban, Feb 11, 2003, Canada won by 60 runs (Can 180; Ban 120)
• South Africa v Kenya at Potchefstroom, Feb 12, 2003, South Africa won by 10 wickets (Ken 140; SA 142/0)
• New Zealand v West Indies at Port Elizabeth, Feb 13, 2003, New Zealand won by 20 runs (NZ 241/7; WI 221)
• Bangladesh v Sri Lanka at Pietermaritzburg, Feb 14, 2003, Sri Lanka won by 10 wickets (Ban 124; SL 126/0)
• Canada v Kenya at Cape Town, Feb 15, 2003, Kenya won by 4 wickets (Can 197; Ken 198/6)
• South Africa v New Zealand at Johannesburg, Feb 16, 2003, New Zealand won by 9 wickets (D/L method) (SA 306/6; NZ 229/1)
• Bangladesh v West Indies at Benoni, Feb 18, 2003, No result (WI 244/9; Ban 32/2)
• Canada v Sri Lanka at Paarl, Feb 19, 2003, Sri Lanka won by 9 wickets (Can 36; SL 37/1)
• Kenya v New Zealand at Nairobi, Feb 21, 2003, Kenya won by a walkover without a ball bowled
• South Africa v Bangladesh at Bloemfontein, Feb 22, 2003, South Africa won by 10 wickets (Ban 108; SA 109/0)
• Canada v West Indies at Centurion, Feb 23, 2003, West Indies won by 7 wickets (Can 202; WI 206/3)
• Kenya v Sri Lanka at Nairobi, Feb 24, 2003, Kenya won by 53 runs (Ken 210/9; SL 157)
• Bangladesh v New Zealand at Kimberley, Feb 26, 2003, New Zealand won by 7 wickets (Ban 198/7; NZ 199/3)
• South Africa v Canada at East London, Feb 27, 2003, South Africa won by 118 runs (SA 254/8; Can 136/5)
• Sri Lanka v West Indies at Cape Town, Feb 28, 2003, Sri Lanka won by 6 runs (SL 228/6; WI 222/9)
• Bangladesh v Kenya at Johannesburg, Mar 1, 2003, Kenya won by 32 runs (Ken 217/7; Ban 185)
• Canada v New Zealand at Benoni, Mar 3, 2003, New Zealand won by 5 wickets (Can 196; NZ 197/5)
• South Africa v Sri Lanka at Durban, Mar 3, 2003,Match tied (D/L method) (SL 268/9; SA 229/6)
• Kenya v West Indies at Kimberley, Mar 4, 2003, West Indies won by 142 runs (WI 246/7; Ken 104)

Super Six

• Australia v Sri Lanka at Centurion, Mar 7, 2003, Australia won by 96 runs (Aus 319/5; SL 223)
• India v Kenya at Cape Town, Mar 7, 2003, India won by 6 wickets (Ken 225/6; Ind 226/4)
• New Zealand v Zimbabwe at Bloemfontein, Mar 8, 2003, New Zealand won by 6 wickets (Zim 252/7; NZ 253/4)
• India v Sri Lanka at Johannesburg, Mar 10, 2003, India won by 183 runs (Ind 292/6; SL 109)
• Australia v New Zealand at Port Elizabeth, Mar 11, 2003, Australia won by 96 runs (Aus 208/9; NZ 112)
• Kenya v Zimbabwe at Bloemfontein, Mar 12, 2003, Kenya won by 7 wickets (Zim 133; Ken 135/3)
• India v New Zealand at Centurion, Mar 14, 2003, India won by 7 wickets (NZ 146; Ind 150/3)
• Australia v Kenya at Durban, Mar 15, 2003, Australia won by 5 wickets (Ken 174/8; Aus 178/5)
• Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe at East London, Mar 15, 2003, Sri Lanka won by 74 runs (SL 256/5; Zim 182)

Knockout

• 1st Semi Final: Australia v Sri Lanka at Port Elizabeth, Mar 18, 2003, Australia won by 48 runs (D/L Method) (Aus 212/7; SL 123/7)
• 2nd Semi Final: India v Kenya at Durban, Mar 20, 2003, India won by 91 runs (Ind 270/4; Ken 179)
• Final: Australia v India at Johannesburg, Mar 23, 2003, Australia won by 125 runs (Aus 359/2; Ind 234)