The Hindu : West Indies' `Dev'astation and more...

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 23, 2003

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Sport - World Cup

West Indies' `Dev'astation and more...

By G. Viswanath

1999... A great moment for Waugh brothers and Warne. — Photo: V.V. Krishnan

Johannesburg March 22. The West Indies was `Dev'astated at Lord's in June 1983. And three more teams — Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — went on to earn the champion tag in subsequent editions.

Highlights of the seven finals:

1975: Two astute captains, Clive Lloyd and Ian Chappell, led their teams' bid to lift the Cup. Lloyd took control with the bat to repulse Gary Gilmour's threat and take the West Indies to an imposing 291.

Australia's reply was spearheaded by Alan Turner and Chappell himself; at 162 for four, there was a game on but Richards fielded with incredible agility to win the game for the Carribeans.

The scores: West Indies 291 for eight in 60 overs (C. Lloyd 102, R. Kanhai 55, G. Gilmour five for 48) beat Australia 274 in 58. 4 overs (A. Turner 40, I. Chappell 62, K. Boyce four for 50). Man of the Match: Clive Lloyd.

1979: Mike Brearley's England entered the final, but was soundly thrashed by the West Indies. England made sufficient inroads through Chris Old and Mike Hendrick to reduce West Indies to 99 for four but Richards and Collis King launched an assault to add 139 runs. The West Indies tailenders — Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Colin Croft — were all dismissed for zeroes, leaving Richards unbeaten on 138.

Though England made a steady start with Brearley and Geoffrey Boycott raising 130 for the first wicket, they consumed too many overs. From 183 for two, England collapsed to 194 with Joel Garner taking five for 38 in 11 overs.

The scores: West Indies 286 for nine in 60 overs (V. Richards 138 not out, C. King 86) beat England 194 (M. Brearley 64, G. Boycott 57, J. Garner five for 38). Man of the Match: Viv Richards.

1983: It was the Indians' turn to rejoice after a 43-run win over the West Indies which looked set for a hat-trick after dismissing the former for 183 in 54.4 overs. Except for K. Srikkanth (38) and Mohinder Amarnath (26), no other Indian batsmen could make runs after Andy Roberts sent back Sunil Gavaskar for two.

In West Indies' reply, Balwinder Singh Sandhu provided a sensational start, foxing Gordon Greenidge. But Richards, who walked in next, played in characteristic fashion to make 33 off just 28 balls with seven fours. His uppish pull off Madan Lal saw Kapil at midwicket run back, make quite a bit of ground and finally catch it. Easily one of the classic catches in World Cup history.

With Kapil's heroic deed providing the inspiration, the Indian mediumpacers struck at regular intervals and the West Indies finally fell short by 43 runs. It was a fitting finish to the competition that began with India defeating the West Indies at Old Trafford.

The scores: India 183 in 54.4 overs (K. Srikkanth 38, M. Amarnath 26, Andy Roberts three for 32) beat West Indies 140 (Viv Richards 33, Madan Lal three for 31, M. Amarnath three for 12). Man of the Match: M. Amarnath.

1987: Australia overcame England by a narrow margin at the Eden Gardens, Calcutta. With a record crowd watching, Australia set a target of 254. It was the first time the World Cup was played on a 50-overs a side format. David Boon made 75 off 125 balls and Mike Veletta 45 off 31 with six fours. But the total looked inadequate when Bill Athey, Mike Gatting and Allan Lamb kept the scoreboard ticking.

A rush of blood by Gatting who tried to reverse sweep Allan Border turned disastrous and England lost by seven runs.

The scores: Australia 253 for five in 50 overs (D. Boon 75, M. Veletta 45) beat England 246 for eight in 50 overs (Bill Athey 58, M. Gatting 41, A. Lamb 45). Man of the Match: David Boon.

1992: Pakistan became the second Asian country to claim the World Cup, prevailing over England at the MCG. The Pakistan middle-order scored heavily on a slow pitch as Imran Khan's team successfully defended its total of 249.

Wasim Akram struck the big blows as England was bowled out for 227.

The scores: Pakistan 249 for six in 50 overs (Imran Khan 72, Javed Miandad 58, Inzamam-ul-Haq 42, Derek Pringle three for 22) beat England 227 in 49.2 overs (Neil Fairbrother 62, Wasim Akram three for 49). Man of the Match: Wasim Akram.

1996: It was Aravinda de Silva all the way for Sri Lanka. Bowling off-spin, de Silva sent back Mark Taylor, Ricky Ponting and Ian Healy and followed it up with a brilliant 107 not out as Arjuna Ranatunga's men registered a memorable win at Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium.

The scores: Australia 241 for seven in 50 overs (M. Taylor 74, R. Ponting 4, de Silva three for 42) lost to Sri Lanka 245 for three in 46.2 overs (A. Gurusinha 65, A. de Silva 107 not out, A. Ranatunga 47 not out). Man of the Match: Aravinda de Silva.

1999: The most one-sided summit clash took place at Lord's after two nail-biting contests involving Australia and South Africa. Things started to happen after Mark Waugh held a great catch at slip to send back Wajahatullah Wasti. Leg-spinner Shane Warne spun a web around the middle-order as Pakistan slumped to 132, the lowest in a World Cup final.

The scores: Pakistan 132 in 39 overs (S. Warne four for 33) lost to Australia 133 for two in 20.1 overs (A. Gilchrist 54). Man of the Match: S. Warne.

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