The semi final and the final of the 1996 World Cup was a one man show and it was Aravinda De Silva who won the 1996 World Cup for Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka had never won a World Cup in its history and the entire nation wanted to win in 1996. The team that Sri Lanka had was one of the best in the world. The Captain of the team was Arjuna Ranatunga and the entire team rallied behind their captain and won the World Cup which is still the biggest moment in the history of Sri Lankan cricket.
Aravinda De Silva 1996 world cup semifinal
Firstly the semi final was against India and it was at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. This match is remembered for all the wrong reasons but in this match Aravinda De Silva played a brilliant Innings to make sure that Sri Lanka had a competitive score to defend. Sri Lanka were batting first and he made 66 runs from just 47 balls and he hit 14 fours in this innings meaning 56 runs were just in boundaries. He had a very good strike rate of 140 in the semi final of the 1996 World Cup. Sri Lanka made 251 and he also bowled 2 overs and he took 1 wicket and gave away 3 runs. Sri Lanka won the match by default and reached the final.
Full Scorecard: India vs Sri Lanka 1996 World Cup Semifinal
Aravinda De Silva 1996 world cup final
Then it was the Final between Australia and Sri Lanka and this was once again an Aravinda De Silva show all the way. Australia were batting first and they made only 241 in the 50 overs that they had. This was never enough and Aravinda De Silva bowled 9 overs and while giving away 42 runs he took 3 Wickets. This helped Sri Lanka get a reasonable total to chase. Aravinda De Silva came to bat at number 4 and he was absolutely sensational as he took Sri Lanka home not out at 107. He took his time and he played for 124 balls in this innings. He hit 13 fours meaning 52 runs in boundaries. He had a strike rate of 86.29 in this match. This was a match winning hundred for Sri Lanka and he single handedly won the World Cup for Sri Lanka both with his bowl and bat.
Aravinda De Silva won the man of the match in the final and Sri Lankan cricket had achieved its biggest moment in history and Aravinda De Silva was the chief player who was responsible for this. He was recently inducted in the ICC Hall of Fame and it was richly deserved and he will forever be a legend in Sri Lanka cricket and the fans will never forget him because it was his incredible performances in the semi final and final that was the difference maker. Sri Lanka reached the World Cup Finals after that but have not been able to replicate the success of 1996.
Full Scorecard: Australia vs Sri Lanka 1996 World Cup Final
