David v Goliath, and India's worst World Cup

Although it is received as a tremendous shock when a lesser team beats an established side during the World Cup, history tells us it isn't as rare an occurrence as Halley's Comet. A non Test-playing nation has upset one of cricket's elite teams in every World Cup except in 1975 and 1987, although Zimbabwe, who became the ninth Test nation in 1992, came within a hair's breadth of beating New Zealand in 1987.

An overwhelming number of the upsets - 13 out of 15 in all one-day internationals, including a tie - have come after the non-Test side has batted first. The only instances of a 'minnow' chasing down a target are when Kenya beat Zimbabwe in the 2003 World Cup and Ireland's famous win recently against Pakistan.

New Zealand and South Africa are the only Test countries to have an unbeaten record against the non Test-nations. New Zealand, however, forfeited their match against Kenya in the 2003 World Cup and Kenya progressed to the semi-finals at their expense. Curiously, these two teams played each other for the first time during the 2007 World Cup although Kenya have been playing ODIs for over ten years.

Bangladesh's Test status has been questioned repeatedly by players and commentators and, while they may not be as good as the major eight just yet, they are miles ahead of the Associate nations, against whom they have 13-2 win-loss record. Their victory against India and India's subsequent elimination has prompted many to label 2007 as India's worst World Cup campaign. That may not be entirely true. We've selected a few World Cup upsets over the years beginning with India's disastrous tournament in 1979.

Sri Lanka v India, Old Trafford, 1979 World Cup
Having lost their first two matches against West Indies and New Zealand, India had only pride to play for in their final game against Sri Lanka, an Associate member who had lost four out of four ODIs at that point. They were further weakened when their captain Anura Tenekoon injured his hamstring on the eve of the match. Sri Lanka accumulated 238 for 5 in 60 overs with half-centuries from Sunil Wettimuny, Roy Dias and Duleep Mendis. Since the match had started late on a Saturday, the Indian chase was postponed until after the Sunday. (The Lord's Day Observance Act was still in force at the time in England, which forbid charging ground admission on a Sunday). India were cruising on the Monday at 119 for 2 but Stanley De Silva and Tony Opatha ran through the lower-middle order and skittled out India for 191 to record Sri Lanka's first ever one-day victory.

Zimbabwe v Australia, Trent Bridge, 1983 World Cup
This is perhaps the biggest upset in World Cup history. Zimbabwe were making their one-day début against the likes of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson in the 1983 World Cup. They were down and out at 94 for 5 but Duncan Fletcher rallied with a brisk 69 to steer them to 239. Graeme Wood and Kepler Wessels added 61 for the first wicket but the asking-rate rose because they'd batted far too slowly. Fletcher was the hero with the ball too as he sliced through the Australian top-order to reduce them to 133 for 4. The equation eventually got out of hand with 81 needed off the last ten. Australia fell short by 13 runs.

Zimbabwe v England, Albury, 1992 World Cup
After that dream debut in 1983, Zimbabwe lost 18 World Cup matches on the trot before facing England in their final match of the 1992 competition. When Zimbabwe were bowled out for 134, another drubbing seemed inevitable. But Zimbabwe would not go quietly as Eddo Brandes bowled Graham Gooch with the first ball of the second innings. He bowled an impeccable spell of ten overs on the trot and by the time he was done, England were 43 for 5 - a position from which they never recovered. Zimbabwe's nine-run win is the narrowest margin for an Associate member over a Test nation.

Kenya v West Indies, Pune, 1996 World Cup
Kenya were ODI debutants in the 1996 World Cup and were beaten soundly in their first three games. No one expected any different when West Indies bundled them out for 166 at Pune. Some of the shots played by the West Indian batsmen during the chase indicated they were overconfident, none more so than Brian Lara, and they paid the price. Only Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Roger Harper got into double figures as West Indies were bundled out for 93, still their lowest total in a World Cup.

Note: Sri Lanka played two ODIs (lost one, won one) against England after being granted Test status but in the week prior to their inaugural Test in the 1982. These are excluded in the above tables. Similarly excluded is Bangladesh's loss against England in the ICC Knockout on 5 October 2000 in Kenya, coming after their election as an ICC Full Member on June 26th that year, but before their debut Test on Nov 10th.