A brief history of the mini World Cup

The Champions Trophy, a biennial extravaganza organised by the ICC, was started with the intention of spreading the game to all corners of the globe. The inaugural competition was held in Dhaka in 1998, and the knockout format inevitably produced some thrilling fare. The carnival moved on to Nairobi and Sri Lanka in the next four years, and the fourth edition will pan out over the next two weeks in England. Though form might suggest otherwise, history favours India and South Africa, two teams that have never failed to reach the semi-final stage. Strangely enough, Australia have floundered in this tournament and have never made it past the last four. The Czech tennis player Ivan Lendl once said "Grass is for cows" when asked about his record at Wimbledon. Dare one say it, but will the Aussies soon be muttering about how "Knockouts are for boxers"?

South Africa came into this tournament with an enviable record. After Brian Lara's heroics had shunted them out of the 1996 World Cup, the team led by Hansie Cronje won 45 of their next 59 matches, and started as one of the favourites here. Jacques Kallis sparkled with both bat and ball, with his 5 for 30 ripping through West Indies in the final. A rollicking 113 in the semi-final against Sri Lanka - when the next highest score in the match was 30 - was also equally vital. West Indies rode on the efforts of Mervyn Dillon and Philo Wallace, the beefy Barbadian opener, and surprised many by beating both Pakistan and India to reach the final. Australia were done in by Sachin Tendulkar's brilliance - not for the first time that year. His 141 and 4 for 38 singlehandedly dumped them out.

Chris Cairns chose the perfect moment to pull a rabbit out of the hat, as his explosive century helped New Zealand to their first victory in a major one-day final. Cairns missed the semi-final against Pakistan, another thrilling run-chase, and played in the final despite a dodgy knee. But had it not been for Cairns, New Zealand would surely have struggled to get past a buoyant Indian side. Sourav Ganguly had recently been appointed captain after the match-fixing imbroglio, and he nearly made the tournament his own. With 348 runs in four matches - Saeed Anwar was second on the list with 209 - he piloted the batting with some intoxicating strokeplay. Two other Indians burst on to the international stage in this event. Yuvraj Singh's stunning 84 on debut thwarted Australia, while Zaheer Khan arrived with his heady mix of swinging yorkers and bubbly aggro. Ganguly's hundred in the semi-final did South Africa in, while his 117 in the final seemed to have sealed it. But then Cairns sneaked in through the back door.

For the first time, a Test-playing nation was chosen as the venue for staging the Champions Trophy (Bangladesh weren't part of the Test family in 1998). Also, unlike previous years, the teams were divided into four pools. Eventually, the rain ruined what had been an entertaining tournament, and forced Sri Lanka and India to share the title. Sri Lanka proved yet again that they were close to unbeatable at home, as their phalanx of spinners engineered a crushing seven-wicket win over Australia in the semi-final. India, who had recently triumphed in the NatWest Series in England, continued their purple patch, with Virender Sehwag emerging as one of the stars of the tournament. South Africa, not for the first time, choked when the semi-final was all but wrapped up. With 70 required, Herschelle Gibbs retired hurt after a dazzling 116, and the rest crumbled in he face of some inspired Indian bowling and fielding. And the bowling hero? Sehwag, of course.