Ponting's 140* and Bichel's 7-for

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 2003.

Top Batting performances

SNo	Rating Pts	Year	ODI#	Batsman	For	Vs	Runs	Balls
1	616	2003	1993	RT Ponting	Australia	Ind	140*	121
2	576	2003	1945	A Symonds	Australia	Pak	143*	125
3	526	2003	1944	SB Styris	New Zealand	Slk	141	125
4	473	2003	1955	SP Fleming	New Zealand	Saf	134*	132
5	425	2003	1963	JM Davison	Canada	Win	111	76
6	420	2003	1942	BC Lara	West Indies	Saf	116	134
7	408	2003	1991	A Symonds	Australia	Slk	91*	118
8	408	2003	1979	MS Atapattu	Sri Lanka	Saf	124	129
9	374	2003	1982	PA de Silva	Sri Lanka	Aus	92	94
10	371	2003	1982	RT Ponting	Australia	Slk	114	109

The table is headed by Ricky Ponting's defining innings of 140 in the final. There was no hesitation in the way Ponting batted. He was determined that Australia reached an insurmountable total and they did exactly that. Let us also recognise the Indian bowling attack as a very experienced and competent one. Andrew Symonds' innings was similar in numbers but was in a totally different context. Coming in at 86 for 4, against a potent Pakistani attack, Symonds built the innings very well, first with Ponting and then with the late order. He took Australia to a match-winning total of 310.

This was a match New Zealand lost because no one other than Scott Styris did anything with the bat. The situation at 15 for 3, chasing 273, was very tough. But Styris scored 141 out of the 200 plus runs scored by the team. One of the great rear-guard actions in World Cup history. The fact that it was in vain should not take away the lustre. It is interesting to note that all are similar innings in size.

A huge South African first innings score was followed by rain and this resulted in a fair target. Stephen Fleming controlled the chase with a beautifully paced innings of 132 and New Zealand ran comfortable winners. The next innings was also a losing one in which John Davison did a Styris. The result was a foregone conclusion. The collection of immigrant players of Canada against the might of West Indies. Canada did well to score 201. Davison scored 111 out of this, that too in 76 balls. The next highest score was 19. West Indies reached this target in 20 overs.

Top Bowling performances

SNo	Rating Pts	Year	ODI#	Bowler	For	Vs	Analysis
1	788	2003	1976	AJ Bichel	Australia	Eng	10.0 - 0 - 20 - 7
2	721	2003	1986	SE Bond	New Zealand	Aus	10.0 - 2 - 23 - 6
3	569	2003	1969	A Nehra	India	Eng	10.0 - 2 - 23 - 6
4	490	2003	1965	CO Obuya	Kenya	Slk	10.0 - 0 - 24 - 5
5	459	2003	1973	WPUJC Vaas	Sri Lanka	Win	10.0 - 3 - 22 - 4
6	445	2003	1990	AY Karim	Kenya	Aus	8.2 - 6 - 7 - 3
7	422	2003	1976	AR Caddick	England	Aus	9.0 - 2 - 35 - 4
8	420	2003	1962	JM Anderson	England	Pak	10.0 - 2 - 29 - 4
9	378	2003	1985	J Srinath	India	Slk	9.0 - 1 - 35 - 4
10	368	2003	1970	GD McGrath	Australia	Nam	7.0 - 4 - 15 - 7

Ah! Andy Bichel. What does one say? England scored 204 for 8 and Bichel captured 7 for 20 in this innings. That too after England started well with 66 for no loss in less than 10 overs. The other bowlers: Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Brad Hogg. Arguably the greatest bowling performance in ODI/World Cup history. And later, with the bat: That is another story, to be told later.

Shane Bond's spell of 6 for 23 is in second position. Bond dismissed the first four Australian wickets and then the two allrounders. He did what he had to do. Restricted Australia to 208 almost single-handedly. Then his batsmen went missing and New Zealand was dismissed for 112. A magnificent performance by a truly great fast bowler.

Ashish Nehra had identical figures of 6 for 23 in the match against England. Almost a similar spell like Bond's, but this time for a winning team. Collin Obuya's spell of 5 for 24 was responsible for the upset of the tournament: Kenya defeating Sri Lanka quite comfortably. He dismissed four top wickets and Chaminda Vaas. Vaas' spell of 4 for 22 is in fifth position. He dismissed Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Brian Lara and Ridley Jacobs. This is the sort of performance needed when one is defending a low total, as Sri Lanka did that day at Newlands.

Top Player performances

SNo	Rating Pts	Year	ODI#	Player	For	Vs	Runs	Balls	Analysis
1	919	2003	1976	AJ Bichel	Australia	Eng	34*	36	10.0-0-20-7
2	584	2003	1973	WPUJC Vaas	Sri Lanka	Win	28*	25	10.0-3-22-4
3	514	2003	1969	A Flintoff	England	Ind	64	73	10.0-2-15-2
4	462	2003	1978	JF Kloppenburg	Netherlands	Nam	121	142	10.0-0-42-4
5	450	2003	1949	AR Adams	New Zealand	Win	35*	24	9.4-1-44-4
6	427	2003	1977	JM Davison	Canada	Nzl	75	62	10.0-0-61-3
7	388	2003	1986	AJ Bichel	Australia	Nzl	64	83	5.0-0-15-1
8	382	2003	1979	PA de Silva	Sri Lanka	Saf	73	78	8.0-0-36-2
9	378	2003	1974	MO Odumbe	Kenya	Bng	52*	46	10.0-0-38-4
10	326	2003	1984	CL Cairns	New Zealand	Zim	54	73	4.0-0-16-2

Now we come back to Bichel. Shades of Gary Gilmour's performance 28 years back. Bichel captured 7 for 20 in this innings. England was restricted to 204. Easy chase, it seemed. But this was South Africa, not India. Andy Caddick went to town and Australia was struggling at 134 for 8. Like Gilmour, Bichel had to step up. Along with Michael Bevan, he added over 70 runs. Bichel's effort leads the table by a huge 320 points.

Vaas, before bowling the match-winning spell of 4 for 22, had scored an excellent cameo of 28 in 25 balls, which had lifted Sri Lanka to 228. This effort takes him to the second position. Then comes Andrew Flintoff's lovely spell of 2 for 15 and a face-saving 64, all in vain since England lost comfortably to India.

The opponents might be Namibia. But when one plays for Netherlands, scores 121 and then 4 for 42, the player's performance needs to be recognized. That excellent dual effort takes Feiko Kloppenburg to fourth position. This is followed by Andre Adam's match-winning spell of 4 for 44 and a timely cameo of 35 in 24 balls.

Top Team performances

SNo	Rating Pts	Year	ODI#	Team	Own score	Vs	Other score
1	797	2003	1993	Australia	359 for 2 in 50.0	Ind	234 for 10 in 39.2
2	743	2003	1985	India	292 for 6 in 50.0	Slk	109 for 10 in 23.0
3	729	2003	1951	Australia	128 for 1 in 22.2	Ind	125 for 10 in 41.4
4	721	2003	1958	Sri Lanka	37 for 1 in 4.4	Can	36 for 10 in 18.4
5	717	2003	1987	Kenya	135 for 3 in 26.0	Zim	133 for 10 in 44.1
6	701	2003	1986	Australia	208 for 9 in 50.0	Nzl	112 for 10 in 30.1
7	699	2003	1955	New Zealand	229 for 1 in 36.5	Saf	306 for 6 in 50.0
8	693	2003	1970	Australia	301 for 6 in 50.0	Nam	45 for 10 in 14.0
9	691	2003	1962	England	246 for 8 in 50.0	Pak	134 for 10 in 31.0
10	690	2003	1961	South Africa	109 for 0 in 12.0	Bng	108 for 10 in 35.1

Australia's huge win over India is deservedly in top position in the team table. There was one point at which this match could have gone out of Australia's hands. When India was at 125 for 3 and there was rain, the D/L was around 145 for 3 and India could have gone on to get a wholly undeserved win. But rain stayed away and Australia won in a canter.

The next match is India's massive 183 run win over Sri Lanka. This was a dominating win by Indian batsmen, led by Sachin Tendulkar and the Indian pace bowlers. The first four Sri Lankan batsmen were dismissed before they opened their account.

Australia had a win over India during the early stages of the World Cup somewhat similar to their final win four years hence. Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee dismissed India for 125 and Australia knocked these runs off in 22 overs. Similarly Sri Lanka's win was an absolute mismatch. It took the Sri Lankan bowlers 18 overs to dismiss Canada 36. No one reached double figures. Then Sri Lanka crossed this total in 28 deliveries, I repeat, deliveries.

What all happened in South Africa during 2003.
- Canada got dismissed for 36. At the other end, West Indies scored 206 in 20.3 overs.
- Kenya defeated Sri Lanka and qualified for the semi-final.
- No one, who mattered, in South Africa knew the Duckworth-Lewis rules and Mark Boucher, after hitting a six carefully blocked the last ball and out went South Africa.
- Kenya somehow managed to reach the semi-final while South Africa, Pakistan, England, West Indies and New Zealand did not.

However it was Australia all the way. They won 11 matches on the trot in the World Cup. Their average run win margin was 111. Their average wicket margin was 5.75. They had one blip. They were 135 for 8, while chasing 205 against England. Bevan and Bichel added over 70 runs. In the final their win was nearly as comprehensive as their win four years back. Two opponents from the sub-continent vanquished without a trace.

The match of the tournament has to be the tie between South Africa and Sri Lanka, for the many reasons on and off the field and the lesson the match imparted to many captains and managers.
The innings of the World Cup was Ponting's magnificent 140 in 121 balls. The Indian bowling went for over 7 runs per over. On another day, I would have given this accolade to the Symonds' classic or Styris' beauty.
The player performance of the event has to be the Bichel masterpiece against England. He captured 7 for 20 to restrict England to 204 and then scored 34 at a very difficult time. There is only one other performance to match this: Gary Gilmour during the 1975 semi-final.
The bowling spell of 2003 has to be Bichel's. But two other fast bowling efforts come quite close: Bond's 6 for 23 in a losing cause against Australia and Nehra's identical match-winning spell against England.