Islamabad, Pakistan (CU)_ March 25, 2022 is a special day in the history of Pakistan. The country is celebrating the 30-year anniversary of Pakistan’s first cricket World Cup victory, which remains the country’s lone title to date. Pakistan began on a fantastic journey from the group stages to eventually defeat England in the finals and win the 1992 World Cup in Melbourne, led by the inspirational Imran Khan.
Pakistan qualified as the last group stage team with four victories, three defeats, and a draw. They defeated Zimbabwe by 53 runs, Australia by 48 runs, Sri Lanka by four wickets, and New Zealand by seven wickets, but lost to the West Indies by ten wickets, India by 43 runs, and South Africa by 20 runs, while the match against England ended in a draw.
The Men in Green faced New Zealand in the semi-finals, whom they defeated by four wickets at Auckland’s Eden Park. Pakistan won the match with an over to spare with Inzaman-ul Haq’s 37-ball 60. England won South Africa by 19 runs in the other semi-final at Sydney’s Cricket Ground. The final match began in a grand manner. Not only was it the World Cup finals, but it was intended to be Khan’s final one-day international and he did not sign off in style.
Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat first, but both openers, Aamer Sohail and Ramiz Raja, were dismissed early in the first nine overs. The rebuilding process then started with Khan hitting at No. 3 and Javed Miandad filling in at No. 4. The partnership began slowly, scoring just 70 runs until the 25th over, but then accelerated, scoring 69 runs in the next six overs to lift the score to 139/2 at the conclusion of the 31st over. However, the run rate decreased once again, and Miandad, who previously had a runner, was bowled for 58 in the 40th over by Richard Illingworth.
Khan then attempted to boost the ante but was caught in the 44th over for a well-made 72 by Ian Botham with the score on 197/4. Pakistan scored 249/6 from their 50 overs quota thanks to Inzamam’s 42 and Wasim Akram’s blistering strike of 33 off 18 balls. As with Pakistan, England lost early wickets and were reduced to 69/4 in 20.5 overs. After a strong stand between Neil Fairbrother and Allan Lamb pushed the Three Lions to 141, Akram returned to clean up Lamb for 31 in the 35th over and end England’s resistance. Following that, none of the batters got going, and when Fairbrother went for 62 in the 43rd over, it was all over for the Englishmen, who could only produce 227 with Khan signing off in style with the wicket of Illingworth in the last over of the game, securing Pakistan’s inaugural World Cup victory.
It was a dream come true moment at the MCG, with Pakistan fans drenching in the glory as Khan and his team accomplished the impossible. Some of the solid performances throughout the tournament came from Miandad with 437 runs, Raja with 349 runs, and leading wicket taker Akram, who finished with 18 wickets and was also named Man-of-the-Match in the final.
