6. Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pakistan) – 60 vs New Zealand, 1992
When in 1975 World Cup, Javed Miandad once said, ” They never knew what a World Cup was”. For a team that never knew the meaning of the World Cup, they came a long way in the 1992 World Cup with the likes of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. Pakistan and New Zealand had dreams of winning the World Cup, but the dreams appeared to be improbable for the Pakistan team for it needed 123 runs off the final 15 overs. Those days, it was tough to get this and asked too much of Pakistan. Chasing 263, Pakistan needed a big innings from someone like Aamir Sohail or Ramiz Raja. A decent opening partnership would have sealed the deal, but they didn’t get when they asked for. Rameez Raja, Imran Khan got good starts but never could convert them. Someone like Imran Khan took a lot of time to get his eye in and never went further. It is a bit harsh to say, but he put Pakistan under pressure with his slow batting. Imran was clearly having a bad day as he was ineffective with the bat as well. Javed Miandad joined hands with new boy Inzamam-ul-Haq to do the job. It was a rare combination. One was an experienced player who showed enough maturity in his batting, while the other was a kid in the block waiting to explode. Much to the amaze of the opposition and the fans Inzamam went ballistic. It was absolute carnage from Inzamam, with the duo putting on 87 runs in 10 overs. New Zealand were clearly succumbing to the awesomeness of Inzamam. Although Inzamam went 36 runs short of the win, New Zealand by then had given up hopes and Moin Khan helped Pakistan to victory with a small cameo. After that innings, Inzamam-ul-Haq announced his arrival into cricket and murdered the hopes of the hosts for a World Cup win. He is no.6 in the list of top 10 greatest innings in world cup.
