Most humiliating World Cup defeat?

[Owzat]

What would you rank as the most humiliating World Cup defeat? Sure there have been a few shocks, but also some very heavily inflicted defeats.

Factor in the quality of opposition inflicting the defeat, the margin of defeat and any other factors that might have been relevant.

England vs Sri Lanka (2011 World Cup Quarter-Final)

England 229/6 (50.0 overs)
Sri Lanka 231/0 (39.3 overs)

As World Cup quarter-finals go, this was more of a bye than a contest. To struggle to 229 without being bowled out and then not even take a wicket is truly humiliating - especially with over 10 overs to spare. Sri Lanka did go on to reach the final, but this was one heavy defeat.

England vs Zimbabwe (1992 World Cup round robin group stage)

Zimbabwe 134 (46.1 overs)
England 125 (49.1 overs)

Don't mention chicken farmers! England collapsed from 32/1 to 43/5 and never truly recovered. Eddo Brandes took four of the first five wickets and even Fairbrother and Stewart couldn't rescue England. Zimbabwe were not really a minnow as such, but when you bowl a side out for under 150 you do expect to chase the total down with six batsmen, Botham and DeFreitas in the order.

England vs Ireland (2011 World Cup group stage)

England 327/8 (50.0 overs)
Ireland 329/7 (49.1 overs)

O'Brien gets a lot of credit, but England had Ireland 111/5 and should really have won from there with Ireland having only five middle-lower order wickets in hand and trying to sustain a run-rate of well over eight.

West Indies vs Kenya (1996 World Cup group stage)

Kenya 166 (49.3 overs)
West Indies 93 (35.2 overs)

This was Kenya's first World Cup, they did very well for a few World Cups but weren't given Test status so have faded. Kenya posted a modest total, West Indies lost wickets at regular intervals with only Chanderpaul and Harper making double figures - two run outs did not help their cause any.

Bangladesh vs India (2007 World Cup group stage)

India 191 (49.3 overs)
Bangladesh 192/5 (48.3 overs)

India posted a modest total, thanks largely to Ganguly's 66 and Yuvraj's 47. They must have fancied winning this, having lost to Bangladesh only once before and not since, but 50s from Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al-Hasan saw Bangladesh home quite comfortably - two late-ish stumpings off Sehwag to make it 163/4 and 175/5 making it look closer.



So there's a few contenders, any more? Who do you think has suffered the biggest humiliation. Just FYI, my choice is England vs Sri Lanka in the QF of the 2011 World Cup for the size of margin (maximum), ease of victory (10+ overs to spare) and significance of the fixture (Quarter-Final)

 

[sami ullah khan]

Pakistan losing to Ireland in 2007 was indeed humiliating.

 

[Aoun13]

1999 WC final was one of the most humiliating defeat by Pakistan in WC.

 

[Haarithan]

What Owzat said. lol at the response I received from my friends - "Swann misses a ten wicket haul by just a small margin of 10 wickets!" Thoroughly humiliating.

 

[Fenil]

Pakistan losing to Ireland in World Cup 2007 and Namibia, though a minnow lost to Australia by as many as 256 runs margin in World Cup 2003 on Feb 27, 2003. That is a humiliating defeat never mind who the two teams contested are.

 

[cricket_icon]

Pakistan losing to Ireland 2007. WI losing to Kenya in 1996. India losing to Bangladesh in 2007 and of course England losing Ireland in 2011, after that massacre from O'Brien.

 

[teamindia]

Ind-SL 1997 semi final.

 

[Fenil]

Well I think most humiliating was the match in WorldCup 1999 when RSA played a tie with Australia and eventually were on the losing side even though there was a tie. That was humiliating for RSA team and its fans.

 

[Insomniac]

Pakistan losing to Ireland in World Cup 2007 and Namibia, though a minnow lost to Australia by as many as 256 runs margin in World Cup 2003 on Feb 27, 2003. That is a humiliating defeat never mind who the two teams contested are.

Uhm Pakistan never lost to Namibia...

And Bangladesh losing to Canada in the 2003 World Cup. That should be added too I think

 

[BKB1991]

West Indies v Bangladesh anyone?

Really humiliating defeat that, Bangladesh actually fancied their chances on beating them and did seem favorites to some. The manner of the defeat in front of your home crowd must have added to the humiliation.

Pakistan v Ireland also stands out for me. But I think I might India/Bangladesh because I believe India were a pretty strong looking outfit during that World Cup, losing to the neighbours that they have always bullied, despite knowing the threat they possess. Atleast Ireland have come back and shown that they can do it to teams more consistently, and had the pitch favouring them in Windies.

 

[shravi]

Bangladesh vs South Africa ('07)
South Africa vs Australia ('09)
South Africa vs New Zealand ('11)
South Africa vs Engalnd ('92)- embarrassment of cricket; most ridiculous way to go out of a world cup.
South Africa vs Sri Lanka ('03)- missing out on the Super Sixes in front of their home crowd (in a ridiculous manner as well).

 

[Cricketman]

India vs Bangladesh 2007.
India vs Sri Lanka 2007.

Mostly because we were expected to win it/do very well. Lawls

 

[sifter132]

Australia v Zimbabwe 1983;
Bangladesh v Pakistan 1999 - that match was so humiliating that Bangladesh got a free pass into Test cricket because of it

WI losing to India in the final of '83 was pretty unheard of too.

Australia v New Zealand 1992 - Australia was the favourite for their home WC and instead that defeat started their worst World Cup of recent times. Losing to the arch rivals was not in the plan.

Glad you mentioned the SA v SL game of 2003 shravi - I can't remember laughing so hard at that error . Must have been heartbreaking for the Saffers though.

I think the granddaddy has to be the WI v Kenya 96 game though. The mighty Windies bowled out for 93 by Kenya Amazingly humiliating loss...

 

[shravi]

Zimbabwe must have felt humiliated after having India at 78/7 in the 1983 World Cup and then letting them get to 266/8. Sure, it required an innings of a lifetime by Kapil Dev but you can't help but feel that they should have won that game.

 

[Chewie]

Uhm Pakistan never lost to Namibia...

And Bangladesh losing to Canada in the 2003 World Cup. That should be added too I think

He's talking about how Namibia got completely thrashed by Australia and that despite them being minnows it would still be incredibly humiliating.