2002 Morocco Cup
The 2002 Morocco Cup was a three-team cricket tournament which took place in Tangier, Morocco during August 2002. The tournament was the first occasion on which the highest level of international cricket had been played in North Africa. Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka competed in the competition, which was funded by Abdul Rahman Bukhatir, a wealthy business man from the United Arab Emirates. Sri Lanka beat South Africa in the final to scoop the $250,000 prize money.[1]
| Morocco Cup 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | 12 – 21 August 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Morocco | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result |  Sri Lanka won the 2002 Morocco Cup | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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, 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 (CCTV) cameras in the team dressing rooms.[1]
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.[2] 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.[3]
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 Yousuf Youhana whose 153 runs placed him fourth, while South African Jacques Kallis was fifth with 141 runs.[4] 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.[5]
Group stage
Table
Key: Pld = Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, Pts = Points, NRR = Net run rate.
| Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sri Lanka* |
4 | 3 | 1 | 13 | +0.725 |
 South Africa* |
4 | 2 | 2 | 8 | −0.725 |
 Pakistan |
4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −0.725 |
Notes:
Teams marked * progressed to the final of the competition.
References
- Steer, Duncan (2003). "Morocco Cup, 2002". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
- "Full details of the 2002 Morocco Cup". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
- Agha Akbar (21 August 2002). "Sri Lanka prevail despite late fright". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
- "Records / Morocco Cup, 2002 / Most runs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
- "Records / Morocco Cup, 2002 / Most wickets". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
- "Morocco Cup, 2002 / Points table". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 8 January 2013.