Down Memory Lane: The 1983 Cricket World Cup

The third cricket World Cup in England in 1983 was once again sponsored by the Prudential Assurance Company and hence like the previous two editions, this too was known as the Prudential Cup. The seven test playing nations, England, Australia, West Indies, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe were divided into two groups. England, Pakistan, New Zealand and Sri Lanka formed group A while the rest were put into group B. There was a change in the league stage format and each team had to play the other three teams in its group twice with the top two from each group moving into the semis. There was drama right from the start of the tournament and India surprised the entire cricketing fraternity by defeating defending champions West Indies in the final at Lords to lift the title.

David Gower sweeps during his century against Sri Lanka. He was the highest run-getter in the 1983 World Cup.

Hosts England got off to a good start as Allan Lamb’s century propelled them past New Zealand. Good contributions from the top and middle order batsmen enabled Pakistan to defeat Sri Lanka quite comfortably. England cemented their spot at the top of the table with another victory against the Lankans. David Gower’s century helped them set a target of 334 and Graham Dilley and Vic Marks did the job with the ball, picking up 4 and 5 wickets respectively. The Kiwis got their first victory against Pakistan courtesy a superb bowling performance despite being restricted to a relatively small total by Abdul Qadir and co. England got their third win on the trot against Pakistan in a low scoring match. New Zealand replaced Pakistan at second place after defeating the Lankans thanks to half-centuries by Glenn Turner (50) and Geoff Howarth (76) after Richard Hadlee had ripped through the Pakistani line-up with a five wicket haul. New Zealand pulled off a thrilling two wicket victory over England with one ball to spare to make thing interesting in group A. Imran Khan’s 102 against the Lankans took Pakistan to victory and kept them in the hunt for a semi-final spot. England’s top order chipped in with useful cameos against Pakistan to book a semi-final spot for the hosts. Asantha de Mel’s five wicket haul, followed by half-centuries from Brendan Kuruppu and Roy Dias gave Sri Lanka their first victory of the tournament against New Zealand. England, powered by Graeme Fowler’s unbeaten 81, ended the group stage on a high with a victory over the Lankans. Pakistan faced New Zealand in the all important final match of group A with a semi-final berth on stake. Pakistan needed to win by a good margin in order to go past New Zealand on the basis net run-rate. An unbeaten 147-run stand between Zaheer Abbas (103) and Imran Khan (79) took Pakistan to a formidable total of 261. New Zealand fell short by 11 runs, but unfortunately for Pakistan that was not good enough and the Kiwis joined England in the semis as the second team from group A.

Kapil Dev drives during his match-winning 175 against Zimbabwe

Proceedings in Group B got off to a dramatic start with new-comers Zimbabwe defeating Australia on the back of Duncan Fletcher’s all-round performance and that was followed by an Indian victory over the mighty West Indies. The Windies were quick to recover from the defeat as Winston Davies’ seven wicket haul powered them past the Aussies. India, meanwhile, secured another comfortable victory over Zimbabwe. They got their first setabck against Australia as Kapil Dev’s five-wicket haul was not good enough to secure victory. Trevor Chappell’s 102 and Ken McLeay’s six-wicket haul gave the Aussies their first win of the tournament. The Windies went past Zimbabwe quite comfortably with Gordon Greenidge stealing the show with an unbeaten 105. Vivian Richards, the hero of the 1979 final, was in the thick of the action again as he smashed a classy 119 that enabled West Indies to avenge their defeat against India in their opening match. The Aussies pulled off a second consecutive victory against Zimbabwe to come back into the fray. Greenidge (90) and Richards (95) helped West Indies overcome Australia and book a semi-final berth. Zimbabwe looked set for another upset as they had India on the rocks at 17 for 5, but a brilliant 175 from skipper Kapil Dev helped them secure a victory that took them to the doorstep of a first ever semi-final appearance in a World Cup. India carried the momentum forward and sealed the semi-final spot with a 118-run triumph over the Aussies. The Windies ended the group stage in style with Desmond Haynes (88) and Faoud Bacchus (80) ensuring a 10 wicket win over Zimbabwe. Despite a loss in the opening match, the defending champions made it to the semis as the group leader with India joining them as the second placed side.

Hosts England faced first time semi-finalists India in the first semi-final at Old Trafford. Batting first, the hosts started sluggishly. India’s medium pacers kept the run-rate under check and picked up wickets at regular intervals to restrict England to 213. India too started their chase a bit slowly, but a steady 61 from Yashpal Sharma and a quickfire 32-ball 51 from Sandeep Patil took India to the victory target. In the second semi-final at Lords’ none of the Pakistani batsmen barring Mohsin Khan (70) could hang around for long as the West Indian pacers restricted them to just 184. Vivian Richards (80) and Larry Gomes (50) put together an unbeaten 132-run stand for the third wicket to see the West Indies through to their third consecutive World Cup final.

The 1983 World Cup winning squad

Defending champions and overwhelming favourites, West Indies were up against the Indians in the final at Lords on the 25^th of June. The final wasn’t a high scoring affair, but there was plenty of drama for the spectators. Sunil Gavaskar missed out at the top for India, but the rest of the top 6 contributed in bits and pieces to give the bowlers something to bowl at. Krishnamachari Srikanth was the highest scorer with 38 runs followed by Mohinder Amarnath with 26. The tail too fought well but the Indians were bowled out for 183. Each of the frontline bowlers of West Indies was among the wickets and one felt that they had done well enough to be in with a great chance of winning the trophy. Balwinder Singh Sandhu gave India’s hopes a major boost when he took out Greenidge’s off stump with just two runs on the board. Viv Richards walked in and got off to a brisk start, spanking the ball to all parts of the ground. The chase seemed to be well on track until Madan Lal got Richards to top edge an attempted pull. Kapil Dev, standing at square leg, ran back to take a blinder that sent Richards back for 33 and brought India right back into the game. Suddenly, there was a spring in the strides of the Indians as Madan Lal and Amarnath ran through the rest of the West Indies line up. Jeffrey Dujon and Malcolm Marshall resisted for a while, but they couldn’t see the team through as India pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the game. West Indies fell short by 43 runs and India were the new world champions.

Kapil Dev lifts the trophy after India's triumph in the 1983 World Cup

The 1983 World Cup was even more successful than the previous two editions. The Indian team, which had not progressed beyond the group stages in the 1975 and 1979 World Cup, defeated West Indies twice in the tournament and showed that they were no longer invincible. Mohinder Amarnath was awarded the man-of-the-match in the final for his all-round performance, 26 runs with the bat and 3 for 12 with the ball. Amarnath, who was also the man-of-the-match in the semi-final, was also awarded the man-of-the-series. England’s David Gower ended the tournament as the highest run-getter whereas India’s Roger Binny was the highest wicket-taker. India’s victory in this tourney led to massive celebrations back home. After the 1983 Cup, a decision was taken to move the World Cup outside England in order to spread the game to other parts of the world. Thus, it was decided that the 1987 edition would be hosted jointly by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

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