Five out of the six hundreds scored in the 2000 ICC KnockOut Championship were made by openers? (30 September 2002)
Opening batsmen made hay in the 2000 ICC KnockOut Championship. With
all the matches being held during the day and in bright sunshine,
there was very little assistance for the bowlers. It was hard-hitting
Sri Lankan opener Avishka Gunawardene who set the ball rolling for the
men at the top of the order, by scoring 132 off 146 balls against the
West Indies in the second match of the tournament, a pre-quarterfinal.
Saeed Anwar was to soon join him in the list of century-makers,
scoring 105 runs whilst leading Pakistan to a nine-wicket win over Sri
Lanka in the second quarter-final. Having batted himself into fine
form, the classy left-hander could not resist helping himself to
another century against New Zealand in the first semi-final. Anwar's
104 off 115 balls, however, failed to secure his side's win as Roger
Twose (87) guided the Kiwis to an easy Zealand win.
With Anwar and Gunawardene out of the fray, it was the turn of yet
another left-hander, Sourav Ganguly, to come to the party. The Indian
skipper's unbeaten 141 off 142 balls propelled his side a 95-run win
in the second semi-final which pitted the Indians against the South
Africans.
Ganguly was again the star as far as the Indians were concerned in the
final against New Zealand. The elegant left-hander struck a handsome
117 as India set New Zealand 265 to win the final. It was a score that
required a big hand from at least one of the New Zealand players.
Fortunately for Stephen Fleming's men, they found a hero. Bucking the
trend of openers scoring hundreds in the tournament, Chris Cairns
hammered a glorious 102 off 113 balls to lead his side to a famous
win.
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