South Africa made its Cricket World Cup return in 1992 after apartheid-era sports isolation.
South Africa had been excluded from official international cricket after the International Cricket Council imposed a sporting boycott in 1970 because of the apartheid system. The isolation lasted about 21 years and prevented South Africa from playing Test cricket or appearing at the first three World Cups.
The political situation changed after apartheid reforms began in the early 1990s. South Africa was readmitted to the ICC as a Test-playing nation in late 1991, allowing it to enter the 1992 World Cup, jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand. Its inclusion expanded the original field from seven teams to eight and added matches to the round-robin stage.
The return was historic, but South Africa’s campaign ended dramatically in the semi-final against England. Rain reduced its target to an effectively impossible requirement under the controversial Most Productive Overs method, an episode that helped inspire the later Duckworth–Lewis system. Namibia, Kenya and Zimbabwe were not the team returning from apartheid-era exclusion in 1992.