The 1998 Wills International Cup was a One Day International cricket tournament held in Bangladesh. New Zealand defeated Zimbabwe in a pre-quarter-final match to qualify for the main knockout stage. Future editions of this tournament are now known as the ICC Champions Trophy. Appearing in their first major tournament final, South Africa defeated the West Indies in the final to win the event. This tournament was inaugurated on the basis of FIFA Confederations Cup where the best teams from their respected confederations compete against each other but in this case the top teams in the ICC ODI Championship compete with each other.

History The ICC conceived the idea of a short cricket tournament to raise funds for the development of the game in non-test playing countries. The tournament, later dubbed as the mini-World Cup as it involved all of the full members of the ICC, was planned as a knock-out tournament so that it was short and did not reduce the value and importance of the World Cup.

Venue The ICC decided to award the tournament to Bangladesh to promote the game in that nation. Bangladesh did not participate as they were not a test playing nation at that time although they had won the 1997 ICC Trophy and qualified for the 1999 Cricket World Cup. One of the worst ever floods of the region threatened to ruin the tournament. However, the tournament eventually went ahead and the Bangladesh Cricket Board promised to donate 10% of the gate money to the Prime Minister's Fund for flood relief.

Fixtures The tournament was held in a direct knock-out format and involved all of the Test playing countries of the time. There were 9 countries eligible which meant that 2 countries would play a qualifier knockout to determine the final 8 teams. Initially, it was announced that the 9 teams would be ranked according to the 1996 Cricket World Cup seedings. However, the draw that was eventually released appeared to have been tweaked in favour of some of the teams with larger followings and saw New Zealand play Zimbabwe in order to qualify for the main draw.

Squads

All nine Test cricket nations participated in the tournament. The teams could name a preliminary squad of 30, but only 14-man squads were permitted for the actual tournament, one month before the start of the tournament.

Results

Preliminary match

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals The first semi-final was played between South Africa and Sri Lanka on 30 October 1998 in Dhaka. On the rainy day, the match was initially reduced to 39 overs per innings. South Africa batted first and scored 240 runs for 7 wickets. Jacques Kallis scored 113 not out runs from 100 balls. The second innings was further reduced by 5 overs and the revising target was 224 runs in 34 overs. Sri Lanka scored 132 all out in 23.1 overs. Sanath Jayasuriya was Sri Lanka's highest run-scorer with 22 runs. South Africa won the match by 92 runs applying the Duckworth–Lewis method. Kallis was awarded the man of the match for his performance.

West Indies played India in the second semi-final of the tournament on 31 October 1998 in Dhaka. India won the toss and decided to bat first. They scored 242 runs for 6 wickets in 50 overs, including Sourav Ganguly's 83 runs from 116 balls. Dillon finished with 3 wickets for 38 runs in 8 overs. West Indies started their innings aggressively, reaching 100 runs in 15 overs. They achieved the target in 47 overs losing 4 wickets. Shivnarine Chanderpaul scored 74 runs in the West Indian innings. Dillon was named the man of the match.

Final

The final of the inaugural edition was played between South Africa and West Indies on 1 November 1998 at Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka. After losing the toss, West Indies were invited to bat, and scored 245 runs in 49.3 overs. Kallis took 5 wickets conceding 30 runs in 7.3 overs. South Africa achieved the target in 47 overs losing 6 wickets, with Hansie Cronje and Mike Rindel scoring 61 not out and 49 runs respectively. Kallis scored 37 runs, and was named the man of the match for his performance. He also received the man of the tournament award. With this victory, South Africa won the inaugural edition of the ICC KnockOut Trophy.

Statistics

Team totals

Highest team totals +Highest team total (250 plus) Score (Overs) Country Opponent Venue Date 307/8 (50.0) Bangabandhu National Stadium 28 October 1998 289/9 (50.0) Bangabandhu National Stadium 29 October 1998 283/4 (46.4) Bangabandhu National Stadium 25 October 1998 281/7 (50.0) Bangabandhu National Stadium 25 October 1998 263/10 (48.1) Bangabandhu National Stadium 28 October 1998 260/5 (50.0) Bangabandhu National Stadium 24 October 1998 259/9 (50.0) Bangabandhu National Stadium 29 October 1998 258/7 (50.0) Bangabandhu National Stadium 24 October 1998

Batting

Most runs in the tournament +Most runs in the tournament (Top 5 players) Player Country M I NO Total HS Avg S/R 100s 50s Philo Wallace 3 3 0 221 103 73.66 107.80 1 1 Jacques Kallis 3 3 1 164 113* 82.00 95.34 1 0 Shivnarine Chanderpaul 3 3 0 150 74 50.00 75.37 0 1 Sachin Tendulkar 2 2 0 149 141 74.50 104.92 1 0 Hansie Cronje 3 3 1 148 67 74.00 90.79 0 2 Source: Cricinfo

Highest average in the tournament +Highest average in the tournament (Top 5 players, minimum 50 runs) Player Country M I NO Total HS Avg S/R 100s 50s Alistair Campbell 1 1 0 100 100 100.00 69.93 1 0 Arjuna Ranatunga 2 2 1 94 90* 94.00 75.80 0 1 Jacques Kallis 3 3 1 164 113* 82.00 95.34 1 0 Andy Flower 1 1 0 77 77 77.00 96.25 0 1 Robin Singh 2 2 1 76 73* 76.00 116.92 0 1 Source: Cricinfo

Highest individual scores +Highest individual scores (Top 5 players) Player Country Runs Balls S/R 4s 6s Opponent Venue Date Sachin Tendulkar 141 128 110.15 13 3 Bangabandhu National Stadium 28 October 1998 Jacques Kallis 113* 100 113.00 5 5 Bangabandhu National Stadium 30 October 1998 Philo Wallace 103 102 100.98 11 5 Bangabandhu National Stadium 1 November 1998 Alistair Campbell 100 143 69.93 7 1 Bangabandhu National Stadium 24 October 1998 Stephen Fleming 96 130 73.84 3 1 Bangabandhu National Stadium 24 October 1998 Source: Cricinfo

Highest partnerships +Highest partnerships (Top 10) Runs Balls RR Wicket Players Country Opponent Venue Date 140 140 6.00 3rd Rahul Dravid & Sachin Tendulkar Bangabandhu National Stadium 28 October 1998 132 114 6.94 4th Ajay Jadeja & Sachin Tendulkar Bangabandhu National Stadium 28 October 1998 127 155 4.91 4th Romesh Kaluwitharana & Arjuna Ranatunga Bangabandhu National Stadium 26 October 1998 125 147 5.10 4th Stephen Fleming & Adam Parore Bangabandhu National Stadium 24 October 1998 118 165 4.29 4th Alistair Campbell & Andy Flower Bangabandhu National Stadium 24 October 1998 117 97 7.23 4th Hansie Cronje & Jonty Rhodes Bangabandhu National Stadium 25 October 1998 113 116 5.84 1st Daryll Cullinan & Michael Rindel Bangabandhu National Stadium 25 October 1998 112 144 4.66 6th Neil Fairbrother & Adam Hollioake Bangabandhu National Stadium 25 October 1998 109 87 7.51 2nd Shivnarine Chanderpaul & Philo Wallace Bangabandhu National Stadium 29 October 1998 94 101 5.58 2nd Ricky Ponting & Mark Waugh Bangabandhu National Stadium 28 October 1998 Source: Cricinfo

References

External links CricketArchive