1987 Cricket World Cup

The 1987 Cricket World Cup (also known as the Reliance World Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the fourth edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament. It was held from 8 October to 8 November 1987 in India and Pakistan – the first such tournament to be held outside England. The one-day format was unchanged from the eight-team 1983 event except for a reduction in the number of overs a team played from 60 to 50, the current standard.

The competition was won, for the first time, by Australia who defeated their arch-rivals England by seven runs in the most closely fought World Cup final to date in Kolkata's Eden Gardens stadium. The two host nations, India and Pakistan failed to reach the final, after both being eliminated in the semi-finals. The West Indies failed to live up to expectations and did not advance from the group stage.

Format

The format of the competition was two groups of four teams each team playing each other twice in fifty-over matches. The top two teams from each group would advance to the semi-finals where the two winners would then advance to the final. All matches were played during daytime and – for a final time in the event's history – saw the teams appear in traditional white clothing and use traditional red balls.

2015 Cricket World Cup

The 2015 Cricket World Cup was the 11th Cricket World Cup, jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand from 14 February to 29 March 2015. Fourteen teams played 49 matches in 14 venues, with Australia staging 26 games at grounds in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney while New Zealand hosted 23 games in Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Napier, Nelson and Wellington.

The hosting rights were awarded at the same time as those of the 2011 Cricket World Cup, which Australia and New Zealand had originally bid to host, and the 2019 Cricket World Cup, which was awarded to England. The 2011 tournament was awarded to the four Asian Test cricket playing countries, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh (Pakistan later lost the co-hosting rights due to a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team). The International Cricket Council were sufficiently impressed with the trans-Tasman bid that it was decided to award the next World Cup to Australia and New Zealand. This was the second time the tournament was held in Australia and New Zealand, with the first being the 1992 Cricket World Cup.

1992 Cricket World Cup

The 1992 Cricket World Cup was the fifth staging of the Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was held in Australia and New Zealand from 22 February to 25 March 1992, and finished with Pakistan beating England in the final to become the World Cup champions for the first time.

Firsts

The 1992 World Cup was the first to feature coloured player clothing, white cricket balls and black sightscreens with a number of matches being played under floodlights. The 1992 World Cup was also the first to be held in the Southern hemisphere. It was also the first World Cup to include the South Africa national cricket team, which had been allowed to re-join the International Cricket Council as a Test-playing nation after the end of apartheid.

Format

The format was changed from previous tournaments in that a complete round-robin replaced the use of two qualifying groups. The initial draw was released with eight competing countries and 28 round-robin matches. In late 1991, South Africa were re-admitted to the International Cricket Council after long years of apartheid and the draw was amended to include them. The revised draw included 36 round-robin matches plus the two semi-finals and the final.