WC Countdown #19 - Rain to Pakistan's rescue

           

To win a major tournament, you need to display plenty of pluck and need a bit of luck, too. In 1992, when Pakistan won the World Cup under the inspirational leadership of Imran Khan, the entire country celebrated and the game was pushed to the forefront in Pakistan. However, without the solitary point they got from the abandoned encounter against England in Adelaide, Pakistan would have been knocked out in the preliminary stages of the tournament itself.

England were up against Pakistan in the round-robin stage. With heavy rain overnight and thunderstorms predicted during the match, England captain Graham Gooch won the toss and elected to bowl. On a wicket that helped the ball move zig-zag and with Imran missing from the line-up due to a back injury, Pakistan looked like a rudderless ship. Derek Pringle, took three wickets for a mere eight runs and rest of the seamers supported him to skittle out Pakistan for a paltry 74 in 40.2 overs. By then, it was clear that only weather gods could save Pakistan.

England, in their reply, lost Gooch, but by lunch they had progressed to 17 for 1. The one-sided nature of the game even made most of those 7,537 fans who had come to watch a riveting contest, leave the stadium in disappointment. Just in the nick of time for Pakistan though, it started raining heavily. On expected lines, the umpires brought out their calculators. 

Now, the 1992 World Cup is still remembered for a bizarre rain rule, where the ''highest scoring overs'' of the first team was taken into consideration. It was unfair towards the team batting second. As 15 overs were required for the match to take place, England suddenly needed 63 runs off 15 overs (based on Pakistan's highest scoring overs). After another shower, it was revised to 64 off 16 overs. Both the not out batsmen, Ian Botham and Robin Smith were unhappy as on a deck that was offering plenty of assistance to the pacers, it was going to be an uphill task to chase it down. But after just two more overs were bowled, it started to rain again and the match was declared as a wash-out.

"We tried to go for them [the target], but it rained again and it was declared a wash-out and we shared the points, one each. In the end that was enough for them [Pakistan] to qualify for the semi-finals," Gladstone Small, England seamer, was quoted as saying by the Guardian.

The one point that Pakistan got from the match eventually helped them reach the semi-final. Pakistan ended up with nine points to their name. The West Indies and Australia remained on eight. However, if Pakistan had lost that game against England, Australia would have gone through as the hosts had a superior net run-rate when compared to the West Indies and Pakistan, and all three teams would have had eight points against their name.