Sri Lanka's moment of GLORY By Dinesh WEERAWANSA It has been 15 years since Sri Lanka had its moment of glory, winning the ICC World Cup in 1996, thrashing Australia by seven wickets in the final under the captaincy of Arjuna Ranatunga. Thus, Sri Lanka is the only host country (or co-host) to win the World Cup in its 36-year history. When the World Cup was inaugurated way back in 1975, Sri Lanka was only an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC). There had been two World Cup tournaments in 1975 and 1979, both played in England, before Sri Lanka became a full member of the ICC in 1981 due to the untiring efforts of the then Minister of Lands and Mahaweli Development, Gamini Dissanayake. However, Sri Lanka had the rare honour of figuring in both the 1975 and 1979 World Cup tournaments due to their superb form at the ICC Trophy, played amongst ICC Associate Member countries. Only eight teams participated in the inaugural tournament with six ICC full member states - Australia, England, the West Indies, New Zealand, India, and Pakistan joined by Sri Lanka and East Africa. At that time, hardly anyone believed that Sri Lanka would become World Champions in two decades. At the first two tournaments, the West Indies were simply invincible and there was hardly any team to challenge the Caribbean dominance. But the West Indies' dream of winning their third successive World Cup was dashed by Kapil Dev's Indian team in 1983. The first three World Cup tournaments in 1975, 1979 and 1983 were played in England. In 1987, the ICC held its first ever World Cup outside England when arch rivals India and Pakistan joined hands to host the mega event. In 1979, the ICC introduced a separate one day tournament for its Associate Members to find qualifiers who were allowed to join the full member countries at the World Cup. Here too, Sri Lanka had the honour of qualifying to play on merit. All nine tournaments Thus, Sri Lanka is among the seven countries which had played in all past nine World Cup tournaments. During this period from 1975 to 2007, Sri Lanka has played a total of 57 One Day Internationals in nine World Cup tournaments, winning 25, losing 30 with one tie and one no result. Four-time champion Australia has figured in the most number of World Cup matches, winning 51 of them, losing 17 with one tie. Having first won the World Cup in 1987, beating England by seven runs in a thrilling final in Kolkata, Australia has maintained its cricketing supremacy, winning the last three World Cup tournaments in a row. Sri Lanka narrowly missed a repeat 1996 performance when they lost to Australia by 53 runs in the final of the last ICC World Cup played in the Caribbean Islands. Two Sri Lankans - Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda de Silva - have won the Man of the Tournament and Man of the Finals in World Cup history, both in 1996. Sri Lanka spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan, with 53 wickets in 31 matches, is the third highest wicket taker in the history of the World Cup after Australian Glen McGrath (71 wickets in 39 matches) and Pakistani Wasim Akram (55 wickets in 38 matches). In the fourth place of the all-time most successive bowlers of all time list is Sri Lanka paceman Chaminda Vaas who has captured 49 wickets in 31 matches, which included his record 17-wicket haul at the 1983 World Cup. Highest scorers Indian master batsman Sachin Tendulkar is the highest run-getter in World Cup history, having aggregated 1,796 runs in 36 matches at an attractive average of 57.93 with four centuries and 13 fifties. In the fourth place of the list of most successful batsmen at the World Cup,behind Australian Ricky Ponting (1,537 runs in 36 matches) and West Indian Brian Lara (1,225 in 34 matches), is Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya. In 38 World Cup matches, Jayasuriya has aggregated 1,165 runs with three centuries and six fifties. Sri Lanka accounts for the second highest total in World Cup history after making 398 for 5 in 50 overs against Kenya in Kandy in 1996. This remained the highest World Cup total until the last tournament in 2007 during which India hit a mammoth 413 for 5 against Bermuda in Port-of-Spain. Sri Lanka has the honour of restricting a team to the lowest total in World Cup history when they bundled out Canada for 36 runs in Paarl in 2003. Sri Lanka's lowest total in a World Cup match is 86 runs all out against the West Indies in Manchester in 1975. Some of these records may well be erased during the latest edition of the ICC World Cup, jointly hosted by Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh. The slow, turning and unpredictable wickets in the subcontinent would hold the key to the 2011 ICC World Cup as Kumar Sangakkara and his men go all out to regain glory after 15 years.