Inazamam and Akram star for Pakistan

A brief introduction into the methodology of Performance Analysis.

The Batting Performance Ratings analysis takes into account the Runs scored, Balls faced, Next highest score (if this is the highest score), % of Team score, Innings status at entry, Bowling quality, Pitch information, Team strengths, Target score in front, Match location, Result and Match importance. These parameters are given appropriate weights. The calculations are done in such a way that Rating points of 1000 would be allotted to a mind-blowing and match-winning score of 200 in 150 balls in a WC final.

The Bowling Performance Ratings analysis takes into account the Wickets captured, Quality of batsmen dismissed, Scores at which batsmen were dismissed, Bowling accuracy, Batting quality, Pitch information, Team strengths, Target being defended, Match location, Result and Match importance. The calculations are done in such a way that Rating points of 1000 would be allotted to a magnificent and match-winning analysis of 10-2-15-6 in a WC final.

The Player Performance Ratings analysis takes into account the Batting Rating points, Bowling Rating points and the Fielding Rating points, which is a combination of catches and stumpings. There are minimum criteria for batting and bowling stints to ensure that these are genuinely all-round performances.

The Team Performance Ratings analysis takes into account the Result, Margin of win, Resources utilized, Team strengths, Match location and Match importance. The calculations are done in such a way that Rating points of 1000 would be allotted to an overwhelming win by 150 runs or 8 wickets in a WC final.

Let us move on to the Performance Analysis tables for 1992.

Top Batting performances

SNo	Rating Pts	Year	ODI#	Batsman	For	Vs	Runs	Balls
1	490	1992	747	Rameez Raja	Pakistan	Nzl	119*	155
2	318	1992	750	MD Crowe	New Zealand	Pak	91	83
3	314	1992	751	GA Hick	England	Saf	83	90
4	306	1992	714	MD Crowe	New Zealand	Aus	100*	134
5	303	1992	749	DC Boon	Australia	Win	100	147
6	297	1992	715	RA Smith	England	Ind	91	108
7	296	1992	752	Imran Khan	Pakistan	Eng	72	110
8	294	1992	742	PV Simmons	West Indies	Slk	110	125
9	291	1992	719	KC Wessels	South Africa	Aus	81*	148
10	291	1992	734	MD Crowe	New Zealand	Win	81*	81

The 1992 edition was not a great World Cup for individual performances. Rameez Raja's, competent at best, hundred tops the table. For Pakistan this was an away match. Also the dismissal of New Zealand for 166 implies a difficult pitch to bat on. And Raja's dominating batting, coupled with the fact that Pakistan were in trouble at 9 for 2.

Martin Crowe was the batsmen of the World Cup. It is nice to see three of his performances, including the beautiful 81, appear in this table. In two of the innings Crowe fell short of a hundred. But let us not forget that New Zealand played all its matches at home.

Nice to see some lesser known batsmen like Graeme Hick, David Boon and Robin Smith appear in this table. Imran Khan's patient 72, which steadied Pakistan in the final, also has found its place. Inzamam-ul-Haq's explosive 60 just misses the top-ten.

Top Bowling performances

SNo	Rating Pts	Year	ODI#	Bowler	For	Vs	Analysis
1	568	1992	748	EA Brandes	Zimbabwe	Eng	10.0 - 4 - 21 - 4
2	558	1992	730	MW Pringle	South Africa	Win	8.0 - 4 - 11 - 4
3	458	1992	752	DR Pringle	England	Pak	10.0 - 2 - 22 - 3
4	352	1992	726	DR Pringle	England	Pak	8.2 - 5 - 8 - 3
5	343	1992	749	MR Whitney	Australia	Win	10.0 - 1 - 34 - 4
6	333	1992	747	Wasim Akram	Pakistan	Nzl	9.2 - 0 - 32 - 4
7	311	1992	736	CC Lewis	England	Slk	8.0 - 0 - 30 - 4
8	310	1992	752	Mushtaq Ahmed	Pakistan	Eng	10.0 - 1 - 41 - 3
9	298	1992	731	IT Botham	England	Aus	10.0 - 1 - 31 - 4
10	294	1992	714	GR Larsen	New Zealand	Aus	10.0 - 1 - 30 - 3

Surprisingly, there was no five-wicket haul in the World Cup. There were a number of important four-wicket performances, however. Eddo Brandes' match-winning spell is correctly placed at the top. The former chicken farmer, with his four top-order wickets, was primarily responsible for Zimbabwe's upset win over England.

Then come a slew of Pringles. Meyrick Pringle's spell was known for his demolition of the West Indian top order. Derek Pringle was very difficult to get off and produced two high quality three wicket hauls. Two match-winning bowling efforts from the final find their place here. Wasim Akram's effort is well known, especially his return in the second half of the innings and the devastating spell of two key wickets in two balls. Mushtaq Ahmed's spell was equally important.

Top Player performances

SNo	Rating Pts	Year	ODI#	Player	For	Vs	Runs	Balls	Analysis
1	466	1992	731	IT Botham	England	Aus	53	77	10.0-1-31-4
2	404	1992	723	PN Kirsten	South Africa	Nzl	90	129	7.0-1-22-1
3	404	1992	752	Wasim Akram	Pakistan	Eng	33	18	10.0-0-49-3
4	369	1992	720	Aamer Sohail	Pakistan	Zim	114	136	6.0-1-26-2
5	328	1992	727	A Ranatunga	Sri Lanka	Saf	64*	73	6.0-0-26-2
6	316	1992	744	AH Jones	New Zealand	Eng	78	113	9.0-0-42-2
7	302	1992	729	N Kapil Dev	India	Pak	35	26	10.0-0-30-2
8	281	1992	720	IP Butchart	Zimbabwe	Pak	33	27	10.0-0-57-3
9	266	1992	738	PN Kirsten	South Africa	Zim	62*	103	5.0-0-31-3

Ian Botham's four middle-order wickets against Australia and his fifty in the opening position together constitute the best player performance in 1992. Botham opened in all the matches and performed reasonably well. Peter Kirsten's excellent all-round performance against Australia was in vain.

Wasim Akram's exploits with bat and ball decided the World Cup in Pakistan's favour. His explosive cameo propelled Pakistan to a reasonable 249. He and Inzamam compensated for the slow batting of Imran and Miandad. Then he removed Botham for 0 and coming back late in the innings took care of Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis in two balls.

Pakistan won the World Cup. However, they could not defeat India at the SCG, mainly due to Kapil Dev's all-round performance. An excellent cameo of 35 was followed by incisive and tight bowling.

Top Team performances

SNo	Rating Pts	Year	ODI#	Team	Own score	Vs	Other score
1	724	1992	719	South Africa	171 for 1 in 46.5	Aus	170 for 9 in 49.0
2	711	1992	731	England	173 for 2 in 40.5	Aus	171 for 10 in 49.0
3	707	1992	752	Pakistan	249 for 6 in 50.0	Eng	227 for 10 in 49.2
4	686	1992	730	South Africa	200 for 8 in 50.0	Win	136 for 10 in 38.4
5	672	1992	750	Pakistan	264 for 6 in 49.0	Nzl	262 for 7 in 50.0
6	661	1992	739	Pakistan	220 for 9 in 50.0	Aus	172 for 10 in 45.2
7	660	1992	747	Pakistan	167 for 3 in 44.4	Nzl	166 for 10 in 48.2
8	652	1992	721	England	160 for 4 in 39.5	Win	157 for 10 in 49.2
9	641	1992	748	Zimbabwe	134 for 10 in 46.1	Eng	125 for 10 in 49.1
10	638	1992	736	England	280 for 6 in 50.0	Slk	174 for 10 in 44.0

South Australia's nine-wicket blitz of Australia was the most comprehensive result of the 1992 World Cup. That stands at the top. Australia could only score 170 and this was passed quite easily. A few days later an almost identical match saw Australia scoring only 171 runs and being passed with the loss of only two wickets. Rarely have there been two matches with almost identical results.

Then comes Pakistan's reasonably comfortable win over England in the final. The final margin of 212 runs out of a first innings total of 249 is quite significant. Three other Pakistan matches appear in the table. The interesting fact is that after an awful start of one win, one no-result and three losses, Pakistan won five straight matches and own the cup. Shades of Australia in 1999.

The 1992 World Cup almost certainly had the best World Cup format of all time. It was an all-play-all format with the top-four teams qualifying for the semi-finals. This format allowed teams to start poorly and then recover, as happened to Pakistan, the ultimate winner. In a way what happened in 1987 was repeated. New Zealand and Australia missed out and two teams from outside the region qualified for the final. Pakistan was not expected to win against New Zealand and then England. They defied all odds and won the World Cup, thanks to two important short knocks from the new kid on the block: the one and only Inzamam. Not to forget the important bursts of Wasim Akram.

The match of the 1992 World Cup was Australia's one run win over India: the second time in consecutive World Cups.
The innings of the event was Inzamam's in-the-zone innings of 60 in the semi-final against New Zealand. But for this innings the World Cup could very well have gone New Zealand way. Crowe's classic run-ball 81 against West Indies ranks a close second.
The bowling spell of the tournament was a toss up between two four-wicket spells: those bowled by Brandes and Meyrick Pringle. On balance I have selected Brandes' spell since that was for a weak team and was instrumental in engineering a huge upset. Since Pringle dismissed four top West Indian batsmen for 10 runs, this was a 51-49 decision.