1996 ICC Cricket World Cup Final
| Event | 1996 ICC Cricket World Cup | ||||||||
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| Date | 17 March 1996 | ||||||||
| Venue | Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, Pakistan | ||||||||
| Player of the Match | Aravinda de Silva (SL) | ||||||||
| Umpires | Steve Bucknor and David Shepherd | ||||||||
| Attendance | 62,645 | ||||||||
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The 1996 ICC Cricket World Cup Final was the sixth instalment of the ICC Cricket World Cup since its inception in 1975 in England. The match was played on 17 March 1996 at Lahore's 62,645 capacity Gaddafi Stadium in Pakistan for the first time.
The match was contested between former World Cup winners Australia and underdog Sri Lanka. It was Australia's 3rd World Cup final appearance after their win in the 1987 edition and the loss to West Indies in the 1975 ICC Cricket World Cup final.
Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga won the toss and sent Australia out to bat. After a blazing start from captain Mark Taylor and young superstar and future captain Ricky Ponting, Australia fell from being 1–137 to 5–170 after which Sri Lanka's 4 prong spin attack took its toll. After Australia limped to 7–241 in its quota of 50 overs, Sri Lanka overcame a nervous start where they lost both openers before the score was 30, to win in 45 overs. Sri Lankan batting sensation Aravinda De Silva played a match-winning knock of 107 not out and was assisted ably by fellow veterans Asanka Gurusingha (65) and captain Ranatunga (47 not out). De Silva was named man of the match after he had taken 3–42 in his 10 overs eairlier in the Australian innings as well & Sanath Jayasuriya got man of the series award.
Australia and Sri Lanka had never previously faced each other in a major tournament final. Australia were former winners of the World Cup in 1987 whilst Sri Lanka had never gotten past the group stages of the competition. The two teams however, had a fierce rivalry stemming from Sri Lanka's tour to Australia in the summer of 1995/1996. Their up and coming spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan was the subject of much scrutiny during the tour as he was called for 'chucking' during the Boxing Day Test of 1995 by field umpire Darrell Hair. After the test series resulting in a resounding 3–0 win to Australia, the triangular one-day series, known as the 'Benson and Hedges World Series' was a much closer contest. Along with other participants the West Indies, Sri Lanka proved a challenge for the all conquering Australian team, who were not able to win easily like their past fixtures. Sri Lanka brushed the West Indies aside to reach the final of the tournament against Australia, sporting a full head of steam after defeating Australia in their previous match at the MCG. However, Australia ran out 2–0 winners and the tension between the teams was evident through the post-tournament celebrations. Mark Taylor, Australia's captain had offered to shake the hand of Ranatunga, who declined. Many thought that this was due to the Muralitharan affair. Many Sri Lankans cited the incident as an act of racism and discrimination towards the Sri Lankans and to Muralitharan himself. This was augmented by the chants from the fanatic Australian fans yelling No Ball!!" every time Muralitharan bowled a ball. Tensions, further overboiled with Australia refusing to play a scheduled World Cup group match in Colombo, Sri Lanka due to safety issues. Thus, handing Sri Lanka the points.
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