After an opening ceremony that flopped, Nathan Astle kickstarted the tournament in style, with a hundred against England in Ahmedabad. The rest of the New Zealand batsmen struggled as they posted 239 for 6•Getty Images

Mark Waugh smashed 130 off 128 balls as Australia overwhelmed Kenya in Visakhapatnam •Getty Images

Jack Russell, the England squad's resident artist, found time to explore the city and paint the Peshawar Bazaar•Getty Images

South Africa continued their terrific form and England's tournament began to deteriorate. Craig Matthews castled Darren Gough to seal South Africa's 78-run win in Rawalpindi•Getty Images

Daryll Cullinan, however, showed tremendous resolve and scored 65 as South Africa completed another extremely efficient victory with five wickets and 34 balls to spare•Getty Images

The tournament also witnessed the return of Javed Miandad, who came out of retirement to strengthen Pakistan's middle order, becoming the only cricketer to play in all of the first six World Cups. Miandad made only 54 runs from three innings but bowed out as the World Cup's highest run scorer•Getty Images

Chris Harris came to the party against Australia in the quarter-final in Chennai. He scored a career-best 130 and powered New Zealand to 286. The highest target Australia had ever successfully chased before was 280 •Getty Images

Sri Lanka and India squared off in the semi-final in Kolkata. After losing Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana in the first over, Sri Lanka posted 251 for 8. Tendulkar was controlling the chase superbly until he tried to glance one to fine leg. He missed and Kaluwitharana whipped the bails off in a flash•Getty Images

Warne letting Arjuna Ranatunga off was one of several catches missed by Australia in the final against Sri Lanka. Australia had set Sri Lanka a target of 242 and managed to dismiss their openers cheaply. However, Aravinda de Silva weighed in with a memorable hundred and sealed a historic victory.•Getty Images

Mike Atherton was out for 1 but he stayed on to run for Graeme Hick, who had a hamstring strain. Hick looked solid as he accumulated 85 before Atherton ran him out. England's momentum was punctured and they slipped to an 11-run defeat•Getty Images

There was plenty of crowd support for Pakistan in Sri Lanka but the fans also made their displeasure at Australia's and West Indies' boycott over security issues evident •Getty Images

Mark Waugh created history by becoming the first batsman to score back-to-back hundreds in World Cups, with 126 against India in Mumbai•Getty Images

The heat in Peshawar had taken its toll on Neil Smith, who took 3 for 29 in 9.3 overs against UAE. He was promoted to open instead of Atherton, but after scoring 27 off 31 balls was violently sick•Getty Images

Paul Adams bewildered many with his bowling action. He played just one league game, against Pakistan, and was a surprising and much criticised selection ahead of Donald for the quarter-final against West Indies•Getty Images

West Indies had just lost to Kenya and no one gave them a chance against a rampant South Africa, who had won all their first-round games. But Brian Lara conjured up a spectacular hundred - 111 off 94 - that helped West Indies post 264 for 8 •Getty Images

Mark Waugh did it without even breaking a sweat. He scored his third hundred of the World Cup and booted New Zealand out of the competition. Australia finished on 289 with six wickets in hand and 13 balls to spare.•Getty Images

After Tendulkar's dismissal, India slipped to 120 for 8. The prospect of a semi-final exit was too much for the partisan Eden Gardens crowd to stomach and they began to set fires in the stands and throw missiles onto the field. The umpires took the players off and when a restart was not possible, the game was awarded to Sri Lanka•Getty Images

De Silva had the perfect match. He scored the most runs, took the most wickets and held the most catches. Sri Lanka became the first country to win a World Cup final chasing. They became the first host team to win a World Cup•Getty Images

During South Africa's match against UAE, Sultan Zarawani came out to bat without a helmet. Against Allan Donald, who unleashed a bouncer first up and hit Zarawani on the head•Getty Images

Chasing 259, India were relatively comfortable at 143 for 3 with Sachin Tendulkar batting on 90. Then Tendulkar charged at Waugh and was stumped - the first time he had been stumped in ODIs•Getty Images

The 1996 World Cup was, surprisingly, Waqar Younis' first (he missed 1992 with an injury). He sent Andrew Hudson's stumps for a walk and collected three crucial wickets against South Africa in Karachi•Getty Images

Pakistan began their campaign well, beating England by seven wickets. Here, Rashid Latif rushes to congratulate Mushtaq Ahmed for breaching Dermot Reeve's defences. England did not beat a Test team in the World Cup•Getty Images

South Africa were cruising, with Cullinan and Hudson scoring fifties. Then the West Indian slow bowlers got into the act. Jimmy Adams took 3 for 53 and Roger Harper 4 for 47, including this magnificent return catch off Steve Palframan. West Indies won by 19 runs.•Getty Images

The showpiece of the tournament lived up to its billing. India set Pakistan 288 to win. Pakistan stunned the Bangalore crowd by racing to 109 for 1 in hardly any time. Aamer Sohail crashed Venkatesh Prasad to the boundary and told him to go fetch it. Prasad uprooted his off stump next ball and gave Sohail an unprintable send-off.•Getty Images

This caught-and-bowled off Courtney Browne was the first of Shane Warne's four wickets against West Indies in the semi-final. Chasing 207, West Indies were 165 for 2, but once Shivnarine Chanderpaul fell, the tide began to turn. In a match-winning second spell Warne took 3 for 6 and Australia were on the plane to Lahore•Getty Images