'In 1992, We Just Lost Form... But This Lot Can Get It Done'

Derek Pringle looks back on England’s last World Cup semi-final 27 years ago and believes the current crop can go one better this year

England’s first World Cup semi-final for 27 years takes place this Thursday in Birmingham, but what of that last one back in 1992?

Can parallels even be drawn or predictions made by an event now distorted by the mists of time? Well, of course they can, so here goes…

The bare facts of that 1992 semi-final are as follows: it was a day-night game over 50 overs against South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground ,which England won by dint of a rain rule far more arcane than Duckworth and Lewis and Stern.

Many say England were lucky to have won after making 252 for six off 45 overs. But for a timely rain shower just before the scheduled close of play, which left South Africa needing 22 runs off one ball rather than the 21 they needed off 12 balls before the weather interceded. Had it not, Kepler Wessels’ team might have prevailed.

But had they done so a far greater injustice would have been perpetrated, following their cynical slowing of the over-rate when England’s middle-order were going well. After their shenanigans we received only 45 of the allotted 50 overs.

Had that not happened they would, I feel, have been chasing around 300 and nobody made that kind of score batting second under lights at the SCG back then.

At that point, the highest successful chase ever, in day-night games, had been 241. So weep not for South Africa, just as few of us wept for Kane Williamson after a flukey fingernail from Mark Wood ran him out at Durham the other day and England beat New Zealand hollow.