Cricket is a glorious game of uncertainties. While the fancied team usually wins against its weaker opponent, there are several instances of “David downing Goliath” in the annals of cricket.

At the ongoing 2007 ICC World Cup Cricket tournament in West Indies, Ireland and Bangladesh have already scored shocking upset wins against contenders Pakistan and India respectively. Weaker teams have meted out several such shocking defeats to stronger opponents in previous World Cup matches.

Here are some of the most memorable ones.

1. 1979 World Cup in England – Group Match:

   Sri Lanka beat India in Manchester. Still a non-Test playing nation, Sri Lanka, entered the competition via the ICC Trophy, and pulled off a major surprise in Group B with a 47-run victory at Old Trafford, Manchester over an Indian side featuring Kapil Dev, GR Vishwanath and Sunil Gavaskar. Sri Lankan Man-of-match LRD Mendis hit a quick-fire 64 off 57 deliveries to help Sri Lanka post a total of 238 runs in 60 overs. In reply Indians were all-out for 191 runs in 54.1 overs.

    

2. 1983 World Cup in England – Group Match:

   Zimbabwe beat a strong Australian side (which boasted of players like Alan Border, Kim Hughes & Rodney Marsh, etc) at Nottingham. In their first World Cup match, the tournament minnows produced a 13-run victory at Trent Bridge. Batting first, Zimbabwe scored 239 for the loss of 6 wickets in 60 overs. In reply, the Australians scored 226 runs for 7 wickets in their 60 overs. Duncan Fletcher was the architect with bat and ball - scoring 69 not out (off 84 balls) and taking four wickets for 42 runs.

    

3. 1983 World Cup in England - Finals:

   Underdogs India defeated the mighty West Indies by 43 runs in the finals to become the champions. Batting first at Lord's, London, India scored 183 runs in 54.4 overs, which looked like a cakewalk for the great West Indies batting lineup consisting of Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Vivian Richards, Clive Lloyd, Larry Gomes, Faoud Bacchus, etc. However, the Indian team proved party-poppers by bundling out the West Indies for 140 runs in 52 overs. Man-of-the-match Mohinder Amarnath scored 26 runs (in 80 balls) and took 3 wickets for 12 runs (off 7 overs) to architect the Indian victory.

    

4. 1996 World Cup in India, Pakistan & Sri Lanka – Group Match:

   Kenya beat heavyweight West Indies at Poona by 73 runs. West Indies had won the opening two World Cups in 1975 and 1979 and Kenya were making their World Cup debut. But the form book was forgotten as the Africans set a total of 166 in 49.3 overs but then bowled out the Caribbean side for 93. Man of the match Maurice Odumbe 3 wickets for 15 runs in 10 overs besides being involved in a 4^th wicket partnership that yielded 27 valuable runs.

    

5. 1996 World Cup in in India, Pakistan & Sri Lanka - Finals:

   Underdogs Sri Lanka shocked the cricketing world by defeating Australia in the World Cup in Lahore. It was a big enough surprise for Sri Lanka to make it to the final but a huge one when they defeated Australia by 7 wickets to win the competition. Batting first Australia with a batting lineup consisting of Mark Taylor, Mark Waugh, Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh were restricted to 241 runs for 7 wickets in 50 overs. In reply, the Sri Lankans scored 245 runs for 3 wickets in 46.2 to pull off their victory. Aravinda de Silva scored 107 not out and took three wickets for Sri Lanka to deservingly win the man-of-match award.

    

6. 1999 World Cup in England – Group Match:

   Bangladesh beat Pakistan at Northampton. There was nothing to play for in this final group game but Bangladesh picked up their first ever win against a Test-playing nation, scoring 223 for 9 wickets in their alloted 50 overs before bowling out Pakistan (with batsmen like Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi, Inzamam-ul-Haq, & Saleem Malik) for 161 in 44.3 overs. The Bangladesh victory was set-up by a stellar all-round performance of Man-of-the-match winner Khaled Mahmud, who scored 27 runs (off 34 deliveries) and 3 wickets for 31 runs in 10 overs.

    

7. 2003 World Cup in South Africa – Group Match:

   Minnows Canada – a non-test-playing country – briefly enlivened proceedings when they beat Bangladesh by 60 runs. Batting first Canada scored 180 runs in 49.1 overs and later bundled out relatively-weak Bangladesh – a test-playing country – team for 120 runs in 28 overs. Man-of-match Austin Codrington not only scored 16 runs in 31 balls, but also took 5 wickets for 27 runs.

    

8. 2003 World Cup in South Africa – Group Match:

   Kenya proved to be giant killers when they won against a strong Sri Lankan team by 53 runs. Batting first, Kenya scored 210 runs for 9 wickets in 50 overs. Then they bowled out the Sri Lankan side (with batsmen like Sanath Jayasuriya, Aravinda de Silva, Marvan Atapattu, Hashan Tillakaratne, Mahela Jayawardene) for a meager 157 runs. Man-of-the-match Collins Obuya scored 13 not out and then 5 wickets for 24 runs with his off-spin bowling to seal Sri Lanka's fate.