Martin Crowe called Eden Park their 'fortress' and a young Inzaman-ul-Haq ended up conquering it in his maiden World Cup in 1992. As 'Cornered Tigers', Pakistan were not the most fancied side going into the World Cup but they tipped Australia to make it to the top-four of group stages and reach the semi-finals.
Led by Imran Khan, Pakistan beat New Zealand in their group stage encounter at Christchurch. But this time around, the Kiwis were more confident playing in Auckland where they hadn't lost a match
during the tournament.
New Zealand skipper Crowe won the toss and chose to bat first as there was a possibility of rain and the Kiwis did not want to be subjected to the rain-affected scoring rules.
It wasn't a great start for the hosts as they reduced to 39/2 with both the openers back in the dressing room. Crowe, who was having a great World Cup, joined Andrew Jones in the middle. They both put
on 48 runs before Jones was trapped by Mushtaq Ahmed.
Ken Rutherford was the next man in and he supported his captain scoring 50 runs off 68 deliveries. The batsmen partnered to hit 107 runs for the fourth wicket and lay a platform for a big finish.
Martin Crowe continued striking the ball with ease but en route he started having trouble with his hamstring and had to use a runner. Crowe was run-out for 83-ball 91 as his runner Mark Greatbatch
misheard a call but the Kiwis had already amassed a good total on the board setting a target of 263 runs.
Pakistan started off well but played a lot of deliveries in trying to consolidate the chase. Skipper Imran Khan who came in at number three played 93 deliveries in garnering 44 runs. New Zealand were
missing the services of captain Crowe who was asked to keep away from the match if he wanted to be fit for the finals.
With the pressure of run-rate getting on the batsmen, veteran Javed Miandad was joined by a young Inzamam-ul Haq with Pakistan needing 123 runs from 90 deliveries. Inzamam went about his business
attacking the Kiwi bowlers, now led by Crowe's deputy John Wright, by smashing anything on the off-stump through mid-wicket boundary. And when bowlers tried to bowl further on the off-side, he
didn't get bogged down and cut them for fours.
Such was his flow on the day, Inzi reached his fifty in 31 deliveries, with Wright not knowing how to counter his batting. He was finally run-out for 60 off 37 deliveries, having hit seven fours and
a six in his match-winning innings. The 87-run partnership he put on with Javed Miandad eased the chase with Pakistan winning the games with one over to spare.
Dipak Patel who was picked to restrict Pakistan's scoring had given away only 28 runs from his first eight overs, but Pakistan's hard-hitting finish did not spare him as he went for 22 runs off his last
two overs. Miandad scored an unbeaten 69-ball 57 while Moin Khan finished off the game scoring 20 off 11 balls that included two boundaries and a six.
With this innings, Inzamam announced his arrival to the big stage and was adjudged Man of the Match for his performance. Martin Crowe regretted having not taken the field while defending and that may have cost a place in the final for the Kiwis.
Having reached the final, Pakistan made sure they made it count as they beat England to win their maiden World Cup trophy.