Australia deliberately slowed down in pursuit of 111 in their 1999 World Cup league match against the West Indies at Old Trafford.
Before delving into that day’s curious goings-on at Old Trafford, it is important to know the Playing Conditions of the 1999 World Cup.
Until the 1996 edition, every Men’s World Cup was played in two stages – league and knockout. But when the ICC took over the tournament, in 1999, they introduced an intermediate step – the Super Sixes.
The 12 teams were divided into two groups, from each of which three teams proceeded to the Super Sixes. When they did, they carried forward the points they had earned against the other teams that had qualified.
Australia had a horror start to their World Cup. They beat Scotland alright, but lost to both New Zealand and Pakistan to find themselves on the brink of elimination before they turned things around with an easy win against Bangladesh. They were now set to face the West Indies.
With eight points from four games, Pakistan had already qualified for the Super Sixes. The West Indies had six from four, while both Australia and New Zealand had four from four. Since New Zealand were firm favourites in their last match, against Scotland, Australia had to win by a margin big enough to topple the West Indies’ net run rate.
But that was not all. If everything panned out as above, Australia would have qualified for the Super Sixes but with zero points, since they had lost to both Pakistan and New Zealand. On the other hand, if they could make the West Indies qualify, they could go in with two points. For that, they had to (a) win and (b) score quickly enough to stay above the West Indies on net run rate and (c) score slowly enough to give the West Indies as much of a net run rate boost as possible to ensure New Zealand found it difficult to catch up with the West Indies.
In other words, Australia had to score quickly but not score quickly at the same time. In a way it was similar to the a clash in the 1994 Caribbean Cup football, where, due to quirky playing conditions, Barbados successfully defended at both ends as Grenada attempted to score for the last three minutes.
Complicated? Perhaps, but Australia had figured it all out. Steve Waugh won the toss and opted to bowl, and Glenn McGrath ran through the West Indies line-up with 5-14. Shane Warne (3-11) did the rest, and the West Indies collapsed to 110. Only Ridley Jacobs resisted, becoming the first to carry his bat in an all-out innings in World Cup history, with 49 not out.
Curtly Ambrose (3-31) generated some interest by reducing Australia to 62-4, but the target was too low for Waugh and Michael Bevan. Once the target was within reach, they slowed down considerably, taking 13 overs to score he last 19 runs in an exhibition of “unappealing, boring cricket”.
The crowd booed and slow-clapped them, and made a beeline for the exit, but it had little impact on the pair. They knew exactly what they were doing. When they finished, both Australia (net run rate +0.731) and the West Indies (+0.497) were on six points, but there was still a chance for the West Indies to qualify.
“I don't know about it being moral, but it was in the rules,” Waugh said at the post-match press conference. “We’re not here to win friends, just the World Cup.”
Later, in his autobiography Out of My Comfort Zone, Waugh admitted that he had been “steadfast, if not a little hot-headed” at the press conference nad subsequent days.
What followed?
Australia’s efforts went in vain, at least to begin with. New Zealand needed to win inside 21.2 overs after they bowled out Scotland for 121 at Edinburgh. They romped home in 17.5 overs to finish with six points and a net run rate of +0.575 to eliminate the West Indies.
However, Australia went on to win every match of the Super Sixes, edged past South Africa after tying the semi-final, and brushed Pakistan aside in the final to win the first of their three consecutive World Cups.
The Super Sixes qualification rule caused a stir – but because of the other group, where, despite finishing third, Zimbabwe qualified with four points. In the 2003 edition, every team qualifying for the Super Sixes carried forward full points for their games against the other qualifying sides as well as half of their points from other games in the league stage.
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