The baton of cricket's sole superpower passed from West Indies to Australia when Australia beat the West Indies at home in '94-'95. A clutch of greats and would-be greats had arrived for Australia, while West Indies lost a few household names. No longer were there Malcolm Marshall, Joel garner or Michael Holding to steamroll opposition with their fury. There were still great players like Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh with the ball, and of course, Brian Lara with the bat. So when these two gladiators squared off in Chandigarh on March 14 for the semifinals of the 1996 World Cup, a great match was in the offing.
It was all West Indies in the early going. Choosing to bat after winning the toss on a grassy pitch, Australia's main task would have been to see off the threat of their pace bowling trio of Ambrose, Walsh and Ian Bishop. They failed in spectacular fashion, as Ambrose and Bishop exacted four wickets by the time Australia reached 15. Bishop bowled Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh for one and three respectively, while Ambrose trapped Mark Waugh and Ponting leg-before for ducks.
That brought to the crease Stuart Law and the limited overs specialist Michael Bevan. They slowly went about the task of rebuilding the innings. They picked up the pace as the bowlers got tired, and at the end of their stand of 138 off 32 overs, Michael Holding in the commentary box reflected on how in his day West Indies would not have allowed the Aussies to recover, hinting at the decline of West Indian cricket, which would manifest itself fully by the end of the match.
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