Ranking the 10 most iconic World Cup moments

Aryan
Stories involving Jonty Rhodes, Sachin Tendulkar, South Africa's bad luck in knockout games feature in this list.
Stories involving Jonty Rhodes, Sachin Tendulkar, South Africa's bad luck in knockout games feature in this list.

#9 Gatting goes for the reverse at the finals (1987)

Gatting's brain fade.
Gatting's brain fade.

England, the creators of the sport have never won an ODI World Cup. They have reached three finals and lost them all.

The closest they came to winning the prestigious event was in the 1987 Cricket World Cup, where they took on their Ashes rivals Australia in the finals at Eden Gardens.

After restricting Australia to 253-5 England were the favourites to lift the trophy. In reply, England were cruising towards victory as they had moved to 135 for 2.

Moment

Allan Border was at the bowling crease and bowled a nothing delivery. It was well outside the leg stump. Everyone would have expected Gatting (not the most innovative batsman) to leave the ball and get a wide. But, something struck in Gatting's mind and he attempted a reverse sweep. As he failed to connect properly the ball went into the air and the Australian wicket-keeper pouched it with ease.

This was followed by wickets at regular intervals. Australia went on to win the match by seven runs and the World Cup for the first time.

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Edited by Vignesh Ananthasubramanian