Before the start of the Cricket World Cup in one week’s time, it seems right to look back on the history of one of the competing teams and co-hosts, New Zealand. New Zealand were one of the teams that were selected to compete in the inaugural Cricket World Cup held in England back in 1975, due their status as a test playing nation, and have retained their place in every World Cup since.
Despite making a record six semi-final appearances, the men in black have been unable to convert that into a final appearance or overall win.
In 1975, New Zealand found themselves cruising after securing two wins out of three games, allowing them to make their first appearance in a semi-final, playing the eventual tournament winners, the West Indies. A second-wicket partnership of 125 between Alvin Kallicharan and Gordon Greenidge proved to be too much for the Kiwi men to overcome and they departed the tournament falling just short of the final.
When 1979 came around, the New Zealanders, yet again, found themselves comfortably moving into the semi-final rounds with two wins out of three matches. After a close battle at Old Trafford against tournament hosts England, New Zealand were on the losing end, going down by 14 runs in their chase of 222.
The 1983 World Cup is not one for the memory books in the minds of players and fans alike. New Zealand had a disastrous tournament, unable to move out of the group stages after Pakistan were able to leapfrog them with a superior run-rate. This was the worst performance the Kiwis had displayed and it surprised many, considering they had easily moved through the group stages in previous tournaments. The 1987 competition was almost an identical repeat, with New Zealand suffering four losses in six games. It is safe to say that the equation was no longer working for them.
1992 was one of two competitions that looked the most promising in terms of New Zealand potentially reaching the final. With star batsman and Captain Martin Crowe (who won the man of the tournament award for his collective score of 456 runs) firmly leading the batting attack, the co-hosts (hosting alongside Australia) topped their group with just one loss to their name. Needless to say, when they met Pakistan in their semi-final at Eden Park, the home team was confident in their ability to pull off another win. However, things didn’t play out like all expected due to a late charge by Wasim Akram (33 off 18 balls) and Inzamam-ul-Haq, who lead their team past the required total and through to the next stage.
In 1996, they acquired three victories out of five games and seemed to be on the road to success. Meeting Australia in the quarter-final, their chances seemed as positive as ever after all-rounder Chris Harris smashed a century. However, his knock was in vain after Mark Waugh hit a sensational 110 on the batting friendly track of Chennai in their chase of 286, sending the Kiwi’s packing with a nine-wicket defeat.
1999 ended in disappointment after yet another successful start by New Zealand. After easily progressing out of the group stages with four wins out of six, they managed to sneak by Zimbabwe in the Super Sixes due to a better net run-rate. In an almost déjà vu moment, they found themselves at Old Trafford in a semi-final yet again, only this time it was Pakistan standing in their way of progressing. Unfortunately, history repeated itself thanks to Saeed Anwar and his 113-run contribution, pushing his team through with a nine-wicket victory.
2003 was one to forget after New Zealand lost vital games against Australia and India which halted their journey to make yet another semi-final. There seemed to be a pattern developing in terms of the success of each tournament they attended. Either they found themselves making it far into the competition or they barely scratched the surface with their less than ideal performances.
2007 was another promising year for New Zealand, topping their group with wins in all their games under the watchful leadership of Stephen Fleming. Their semi-final spot was secured with five wins out of seven in the Super Eight stages. Yet again they were unable to duplicate their earlier performances and were beaten convincingly by Sri Lanka by a massive 81 runs in their semi-final meeting.
In the most recent World Cup, 2011, they occupied the fourth and final qualifying spot in their group to proceed to the quarter-finals, meeting South Africa. After pulling off a stunning 49-run victory to send South Africa home, they were to meet Sri Lanka yet again in another semi-final match up. Unfortunately, Sri Lanka were able to find it within themselves to beat the men in black by five wickets and send New Zealand home once again without a chance to make the finals.
If one were to look at their past, the team that will be attending the 2015 Cricket World Cup is their most promising one yet. After two years of progressive and extremely successful cricket, with in-form batsman Kane Williamson and captain Brendon McCullum leading the batting while their young strike bowlers continue to improve with each game that passes, they come into the tournament free of their usual “dark horse” tag they seem to find themselves with.
As a Blackcaps fan, I am quietly confident that this will be the year they are finally able to make the final and potentially turn their first appearance into an overall victory.
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