The ICC Champions Trophy, as it is known today, was first played as the ICC Knock-out Trophy, in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1998 and, as the name suggests, it was a pure knock-out tournament. This ODI tournament was arranged with the aim to be the second most important limited overs tournament, after the World Cup. The first edition featured 9 teams, with Zimbabwe playing New Zealand in a preliminary match, followed by the quarterfinals, semis and finals.
New Zealand beat Zimbabwe by 5 wickets, to qualify for the main tournament, scoring the winning runs of the last ball of their innings. In what turned out to be a match between the captains, Stephen Fleming managed to trump the century scored by Alistair Campbell, bagging the Man of the Match for his 96 runs.
In the first quarterfinal, England, being captained by Adam Hollioake, won the toss against Hansie Cronje's South Africans and scored a creditable 281 off their allotted quota of overs. Again, the captain stole the batting honours with Adam top scoring with an unbeaten 83. In reply, 3 South African batsmen, Cullinan (Man of the Match for topscoring with 69), Jonty Rhodes and captain Cronje got past 50, ensuring a win for their team by a confortable margin.
The next quarters was between Sri Lanka and New Zealand and with the latter managing to post only 188, batting first, Sri Lanka were home for a comfortable 5 wicket win. Captain Arjuna Ranatunga (not another captain!!!) guided the team to the target, scoring an unbeaten 90, after the Lankans had lost 3 wickets by the 4th over.
The next match, between India, led by Md. Azharuddin, and Australia, led by Steve Waugh, really turned out to be a match between Sachin Tendulkar and the Aussies. Sachin, a real thorn in the Aussie flesh in those days, scored 141 in India's total of 307 for 8 and, as though that was not enough, went on to take 4 wickets for 38 runs, including the scalps of Steve Waugh, Michael Bevan and Damien Martyn. That effort ensured an easy decision for the Man of the Match adjudicator and also marked the beginning of a miserable run for the Aussies in this tournament, which finally ended with the title win in the last edition.
The final quarterfinal match was between the Brian Lara led West Indeies and the Aamer Sohail led Pakistanis. The Windies, after scoring 289 for 9, restricted the Pakistanis to 259 for 9, thereby qualifying for the semis.
The first semi-final between South Africa and Sri Lanka was delayed by rain and started as a 39 overs a side match. Jacques Kallis, who had a fine tournament exhibiting his all-round skills, scored an unbeaten 113 in his side's 240/7. Further rain interruption meant that Sri Lanak were set a target of 224 in 34 overs, under the Duckworth-Lewis formula. The Lankans did not last that long, being bowled out for 132 in the 24th over, giving the Proteas their first appearance in a major final.
The early dismissal of Sachin and Azharuddin, followed by Dravid and Jadeja at regular intervals, emant that India were always fighting with their backs to the wall. Ganguly fot 83 and Robin Singh an unbeating 77 in India's total of 242/6. Sachin, the bowler, again tried to turn the match on its head, but Chanderpaul had other ideas and so the Windies were in a major final after 15 long years.
Philo Wallace's 103 and Kallis' 5 for 30 were the highlights of the West Indian's innings when they batted first in the finals. For them to set an unbeatable target, they need Brian Lara to come good - and he did not. But the South African captain did not miss his trick and Cronje's unbeaten 61, coupled with some useful contributions down the order meant that the Proteas were home and dry - and at last found some silverware to justify their potential...
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