2007 World Cup Recap - Revisiting unforgettable moments

The 2007 ICC World Cup was held for the first time in the Caribbean and it had a very new format. There were a total of 51 matches played. A total of 16 teams were competing in the mega showdown and were divided into 4 groups of 4 teams each initially.  The two top teams from each group then further qualified for the Super 8s round. 

From this, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and South Africa went ahead through to the semi-finals. Australia then defeated Sri Lanka in the final to win their third consecutive World Cup and fourth overall. However, the format of the tournament was heavily criticized. 

This was because the tournament favourites India and Pakistan were eliminated in the first round itself. This resulted in the tournament being deemed as the worst-rated and least-watched event by ICC as the majority of the Indian subcontinent lost interest in watching the matches. It was also marred by many controversies regarding the organization and the mysterious death of the legendary coach, the late Bob Woolmer. 

Let's recap the 2007 World Cup which was played in the West Indies and here are some unforgettable memories.

Revisiting unforgettable moments from the 2007 World Cup:

6. Bangladesh shocked India and Pakistan lost to Ireland in a big upset 

The format of the 2007 World Cup was a unique one as 16 teams were divided into 4 groups of four teams each. India were in Group B with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bermuda. Pakistan were in Group D with West Indies, Zimbabwe, and Ireland. This didn’t give teams much space to wiggle if they lost a match early.

This happened to India, who lost to Bangladesh in a shocking defeat in Trinidad. Bangladesh bowled India out for 191 and then chased it down with 5 wickets in hand. India made a comeback by defeating Bermuda by 257 runs in their next match. But needed to win against Sri Lanka to qualify for the Super 8s. Unfortunately for India, Sri Lanka proved to be too good as they posted 254 runs and India couldn’t chase them, making only 185 and losing by 69 runs. This knocked India out of the tournament.

Something similar happened to Pakistan as well. They began with a loss to West Indies and then in the upset of the World Cup 2007, were decimated by Ireland. Pakistan was bowled out for 132 and Ireland chased the target with 3 wickets in hand. Though Pakistan won their final match against Zimbabwe by 93 runs via the Duckworth  Louis-Stern (DLS method), they were knocked out of the tournament.