Cricket World Cup 1st XI: 5) South Africa robbed

Cricket World Cup 1992 semi final England v South Africa at Sydney McMillan gestures to umpire (Aldridge or Randall?) as the rain falls. Photo / Getty Images.

With four weeks to go before the start of the Cricket World Cup, the Herald lists the stories that have defined the tournament.

No 5: South Africa robbed

Anyone complaining about the mathematically complex but inherently fair Duckworth-Lewis Method to resolve rain-affected matches need only look to the 1992 World Cup to see why it exists.

South Africa required 22 runs from 13 deliveries to beat England when Sydney's skies opened for an estimated 12 minutes. The playing conditions said any reduction in target was proportionate to the lowest-scoring overs of the side batting first to take into account 'the benefits' of chasing.

Thus 22 off 13 was reduced to 22 off one and then, in what seemed a cruel gag, 21 off one because a rogue leg bye hadn't been accounted for.

In scenes reminiscent of Brian McKechnie avoiding the ignominy of being bowled underarm by Trevor Chappell 11 years earlier at the MCG, Brian McMillan tapped Chris Lewis' last ball for a single onto the legside and set off for the pavilion.

South Africa were robbed but they weren't averse to their own cynical tactics. They had initiated a go-slow in the England innings so only 45 overs were bowled by Channel Nine's 6.10pm cut-off time. They were fined but the punishment was subsequently heavier.

The match had to be finished by 10.10pm, which was another factor which led to a lack of compromise by officials. Bizarrely, the players actually came off with the scoreboard reading 10.08pm.

To complete the absurdity, it emerged the competition rules allowed for a reserve day but Channel Nine insisted the match finish on the scheduled day.

The Independent's Martin Johnson perhaps summed it up best. "Had Martians landed at the SCG, they would have concluded there was no intelligent life on Earth and gone home."

The upshot was the development of the modern-day system designed by British statisticians Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis.

Duckworth was listening to the BBC during the game. "I recall hearing [the late broadcaster] Christopher Martin-Jenkins on radio saying, 'surely someone, somewhere could come up with something better' and I soon realised that it was a mathematical problem that required a mathematical solution."

It was formally adopted by the International Cricket Council in 1999. Just in case you were wondering, what if the D-L Method had been applied to the semifinal?

South Africa would have needed four to tie and five to win off the final ball.