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Clive Lloyd a fine innings |
Windies captain Clive Lloyd 100 from 82 balls gets them victory over
Australia
By A.C. De Silva
Inaugural Prudential World Cup Cricket Tournament played in England
in 1975 had plenty of thrills. West Indies won 'the World championship
beating Australia in a pulsating finish.
It was an unforgettable day and the West Indies captain Clive Lloyd
scored a scintillating century to guide the West Indies to victory.
Enroute to the final, Australia got past England in a low-scoring,
but edge-of-the seat match. Allrounder Gary Gilmour did the star turn
for Australia.
Kallicharran's assault on Dennis Lillee in the league was another
memorable feature.
Sri Lanka gallant but lose
Up against Australia's mighty 328 for 6 (60 overs), Sri Lanka made a
gallant bid but ultimately went down with guns booming. It was a
'bloody' hectic chase. Duleep Mendis (32) and Sunil Wettimuny (53)
played heroically despite being hit by the ferocious Jeff Thomson. Sri
Lanka's final tally of 276 for 4 was a saga of courage in extremely
adverse conditions and that clearly told the mental attitude of the
gritty cricketers from the Island.
On the dubious side was the batting of Indian star Sunil Gavaskar. He
made 36 in 60 overs and this was certainly not a good advertisement for
over specific cricket. What made Gavaskar's effort totally ridiculous
was the fact that the batsman got bogged down despite clear instructions
from the skipper Kapil Dev and the manager to go for the runs.
Murray and Roberts saved Windies
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Viv Richards – the West Indian proved that he was
Master-Batsman when he made a superb 138 not out against
England in the 1979 final. Collis King was king that day as
he played superbly – even better than Viv Richards. |
Like Australia, even West Indies would not have made it to the final
but for Derryk Murray and Andy Roberts. In the very second match itself,
against Pakistan, West Indies was in dire straits. Pakistan made 266 for
7 from 60 overs. When Vanburn Holder was 9th out, West Indies were 203.
Murray and Roberts got together in the 46th over. Run by run, the pair
pushed West Indies closer to the target. The 57th over of the innings,
bowled by Pakistan's newcomer Parvez Mir, was a maiden. From three overs,
West Indies needed 16 runs. With 9 balls to go, West Indies needed 10
runs. Roberts drove Mir for a 4.
Leg Spinner Wasim Raja bowled the last over with West Indies meeding
five runs. The rest was history. West Indies won with two balls to
spare. Murray remained 61 not out, while Roberts made 24 not out.
Dropped catch pulled - Windies through
The final was watched by around 30,000 spectators. Joining Rohan
Kanhai at 50 for 3, Clive Hubert Lloyd played one of the finest innings.
It was a knock befitting the occasion. From the 23rd over of the innings
to the 39th, Kanhai scored nothing as Lloyd went on a rampage to reach a
glorious 100 from a mere 82 balls.
Australia and more particularly, Ross Edwards, would rue the chance
that Lloyd offered when on 26. Had Edwards, a very competent fielder
otherwise, taken that catch, West Indies would have been 83 for 4.
Instead West Indies went on to 291 for 8. Lloyd and Kanhai added 149 for
the fourth wicket.
Allan Turner (40), Ian Chappell (62), Doug Walters (35) and Ross
Edwards (28) batted splendidly to keep the Aussies hopes afloat. But
Turner and the Chappell brothers were run out by Viv Richards, who was
remarkable on the field on that day.
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Sri Lanka’s Sunil Wettimuny (53) and Duleep Mendis (32)
played
gallantly to make 276 for 4 wickets to give Australia some
anxious moments after the Aussies made 326 for 6 wickets in
60 overs. Sri Lanka lost, but it was after a tough battle. |
Max Wacher was run out too. Thomson (21) and Dennis Lillee (16 not
out) added 41 for the last wicket. The atmosphere at Lord's was
electric.
Finally 17 runs stood between West Indies and Australia when Thomson
became the fifth run out victim of the innings.
On June 23, there was a report in the Times of London which had the
report with the headline, "The Great Day when London was Lloyd's".
Viv's turn - the Master
Much water had flowed under the Thomes River between the first and
the second Prudential Cups. But the West Indies retained the title in
1979, Viv Richards, the master fielder in 1975, proved that he was the
master-batsman this time, as he hit a superb unbeaten 138 (157 balls, 3
sixes, eleven 4's) against England in the final.
England did not have a fifth bowler and that proved expensive as 86
were taken off the 10 overs shared by Boycolt, Gooch and Larkins. Collis
king was King that day, playing the lead role in West Indian revival.
When King (86) was there even Richards had to take a back seat. |
