The 2002 Morocco Cup was a three-team
cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
tournament which took place in
Tangier
Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...
,
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
during August 2002. The tournament was the first occasion on which the highest level of international cricket had been played in North Africa.
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
competed in the competition, which was funded by Abdul Rahman Bukhatir, a wealthy business man from the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
. Sri Lanka beat South Africa in the final to scoop the $250,000 prize money.
The tournament, in addition to attracting TV audiences to Bukhatir's
TEN Sports channel, promoted cricket in North Africa. All of the matches were played at the
National Cricket Stadium in
Tangier
Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...
, a purpose built ground which cost $4 million, most of which was spent on the grandstand. The organisers of the competition were so keen to avoid any accusations of match-fixing that they installed
closed-circuit television
Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...
(CCTV) cameras in the team dressing rooms.
During the group stage, Pakistan won only once; beating Sri Lanka in the second match of the tournament. Sri Lanka beat Pakistan in their other match, and defeated South Africa in both the side's group contests to finish top of the table. South Africa won both their matches against Pakistan to qualify for the final. In the final, Sri Lanka beat South Africa by 27 runs, led by a run-a-ball score of 71 from their captain
Sanath Jayasuriya, and two wickets from each of
Chaminda Vaas,
Pulasthi Gunaratne and
Muttiah Muralitharan.
Jayasuriya finished the tournament as the leading run-scorer, aggregating 299 runs from his five appearances at an average of 59.80. Each of the top-three run-scorers were Sri Lankan; the highest Pakistani batsman was
Mohammad Yousuf whose 153 runs placed him fourth, while South African
Jacques Kallis
Jacques Henry Kallis Order of Ikhamanga, OIS (born 16 October 1975) is a South African cricket coach and former professional cricketer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of all time and as one of the greatest all-rounders ever t ...
was fifth with 141 runs. In contrast,
Waqar Younis of Pakistan took the most wickets, 11, followed by a pair of South Africans –
Allan Donald and
Lance Klusener, who took 10 and 9 respectively.
Upul Chandana and
Pulasthi Gunaratne were the leading Sri Lankans, claiming 8 wickets apiece.
Group stage
Table
''Key: Pld = Played, W =
Wins, L =
Losses, Pts = Points, NRR =
Net run rate.''
Notes:
Teams marked progressed to the final of the competition.
Fixtures
1st match
2nd match
3rd match
4th match
5th match
6th match
Final
References
External links
{{International cricket in 2002
Morocco Cup, 2002
International cricket competitions in 2002
Cricket in Morocco
2002 in Moroccan sport