just_cricket
Associate Captain
-The first of New Zealand's Cricket World Cup campaigns was 1975. Glenn Turner led them into the semifinals with two magnificent centuries, before they were undone by the dominant West Indian outfit who went on to comprehensively win the event.
-In 1979, the men with black caps again performed well enough to reach the semis in a good team effort, and battled bravely against England in an attempt to reach the final, falling just 9 runs short in a valiant effort,
-1983 was not New Zealand's year, beginning with a heavy loss to England, and even though they did win a game against Pakistan, their dreams were shattered when they lost to Sri Lanka, to give the 'minnows' their first world cup victory. NZ were knocked out before the semis.
-1987 saw the New Zealanders once more knocked out before the semi finals- although they beat Zimbabwe twice, two close losses to England and India saw them ruled out beyond doubt.
-Martin Crowe led the 1992 campaign, as the Kiwis took the tournament by storm. Crowe scored an unbeaten hundred to lead his team to a thumping victory over Australia in the opening match. Comprehensive wins over Sri Lanka, South Africa, Zimbabwe, West Indies, India, and England followed, with the tactics of Mark Greatbatch "pinch hitting" at the top of the innings, and slow bowler Dipak Patel opening the bowling, bamboozling their opponents. After such dominance in Pool play, it was a huge shock when Ramiz Raja led Pakistan to a win in the semi finals with an unbeaten hundred to once again knock the Black Caps out before the finals.
-The 1996 edition began well for New Zealand, with victories over England and the Netherlands, before losses to Pakistan and South Africa knocked them out before the semifinals. This was becoming a habit!
-New Zealand's year could have been 1999- opening with wins over Bangladesh and Australia, despite losses against the West Indies and Pakistan, they still qualified for the Super Six, and then the semifinals. Then, who should knock them out but... Pakistan! Saeed Anwar recorded an unbeaten century, as Pakistan chased New Zealand's competitive 242 for the loss of just one wicket. Geoff Allot was the star of New Zealand's campaign- sharing the most tournament wickets with none other than Shane Warne.
-2003 began poorly, with a disappointing loss to Sri Lanka, meaning that the Black Caps had to win every Pool game from then on to qualify. A good win over the West Indies kept their hopes alive before they achieved one of NZ's best ODI wins, effectively chasing down their target of 306 set by South Africa via the Duckworth-Lewis system, thanks to a sublime unbeaten century from captain Stephen Fleming. Wins over minnows Bangladesh and Canada saw them through to the Super Six, where they beat Zimbabwe, and Shane Bond demolished Australia with figures of 6/23, but a poor batting efforts saw NZ not only lose that game, but score just 130 against India in the next game, to knock themselves out of the tournament.
-2007 was not a disgraceful campaign for the Black Caps by any means- wins over England, Canada and Kenya saw them qualify top of their pool, and in the Super Eight they beat Bangladesh, the West Indies, Ireland, and South Africa to qualify for the semi finals. Once again, this was as far as they got, as Sri Lanka knocked them out in the semi finals.
With a core of experienced players mixed with exciting new talent, the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup in the Sub-Continent might just be their stage...
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i have some competition
