Lance Klusener was named Player of the Tournament at the 1999 World Cup after scoring 281 runs at an average of 140.50 and a strike rate of 122, taking 17 wickets — the most dominant all-round tournament performance in World Cup history — for a team that did not win the title.
Lance Klusener was a right-arm fast-medium bowler who batted at number eight and hit the ball as hard as any batsman in world cricket. The 1999 World Cup was his tournament — he was unplayable with both bat and ball across the group stage and Super Sixes.
South Africa went unbeaten through the Super Sixes. They faced Australia in the semi-final knowing they had the most in-form player in the tournament. What happened in the semi-final (the tied match, Donald's run-out) is covered separately.
Klusener's tournament numbers: 281 runs at 140.50 (not dismissed four times), strike rate 122, 17 wickets. Six consecutive not-outs before the semi-final. He won matches almost single-handedly against England (46* off 22 balls) and Zimbabwe (52* off 43 balls).
He was also South Africa's best bowler across the tournament — 17 wickets in 9 matches at a tournament where pitches were generally flat.
The Player of the Tournament award confirmed what every watching cricket fan already knew: Klusener was the finest all-round World Cup performer the tournament had ever seen. And yet he was on the losing side in the semi-final, eliminated without playing a final.
Klusener vs England — 46* off 22 balls, match won
Tournament average of 140.50 — statistically the best batting average in any World Cup
Semi-final heartbreak — the context that made the award bittersweet
May 1999
World Cup begins — Klusener immediately dominant
Group stage and Super Sixes
Klusener 281 runs at 140.50, 17 wickets
June 17, 1999
Semi-final — South Africa eliminated, Klusener stranded at the crease
Klusener played on for South Africa until 2004. The 1999 semi-final followed him throughout his career. He later became a batting coach for several nations. His 1999 tournament remains the most dominant all-round World Cup performance by any player who didn't win.
The greatest tournament performance that ended without a title. Klusener was arguably the best player in the 1999 World Cup — and he is remembered primarily for the last two balls of the semi-final. Sport's cruelest irony in individual form.
Klusener's 1999 campaign is cited whenever cricket discusses how individual excellence doesn't guarantee team success. His bowling-plus-batting combination at 122 strike rate was a precursor to the modern T20 all-rounder archetype.
Australia vs West Indies
1960-12-14
The first tied Test in 86 years of cricket history — Australia and West Indies finished level on 737 runs each after five days of breathless cricket in Brisbane, producing one of the most dramatic finishes the game has ever seen.
India vs Australia
1986-09-22
Twenty-six years after Brisbane, cricket produced only its second tied Test — Dean Jones's heroic 210 through crippling heat and Dean Jones's fever, Ravi Shastri's unbeaten 48 and India needing 2 off the last over, only for Maninder Singh to be out lbw off the final ball.
Australia vs South Africa
1999-06-17
Lance Klusener smashed Australia to the brink of elimination, then ran out Allan Donald off the penultimate ball to tie the match — but Australia advanced to the final on superior run rate, ending South Africa's greatest World Cup campaign in devastating fashion.