SK Flashback: Kapil Dev's 175 rescues India against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup

After winning just one match in the 1975 and 1979 World Cups combined, expectations for India weren’t high at the 1983 World Cup especially with the mighty West Indies and Australia in their group. However, India scripted a huge upset by stunning West Indies in their World Cup opener before registering a five-wicket win over Zimbabwe in their following game.

Two consecutive wins were followed by losses in their next two matches. India suffered a 162-run hiding against Australia in their third group game before being beaten by West Indies in their next match by 66 runs.

This resulted in India needing to defeat Zimbabwe in their next match to keep their hopes of qualification alive. Zimbabwe had defeated Australia in their tournament opener but had then lost three matches on the trot. In order to stand a chance to qualify for the semi-finals, The Chevrons needed to win their final two group games against India and West Indies.

The India vs Zimbabwe game was held on this very day at Nevill Ground in Royal Tunbridge Wells in 1983.

Kevin Curran and Peter Rawson reduce India to 17/5

India won the toss and opted to bat first with Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Sunil Gavaskar opening the innings. The side from the subcontinent were expected to cruise to a win that day but Kevin Curran and Peter Rawson had other plans.

Off just the second delivery of the match, Rawson got the crucial wicket of Gavaskar by trapping him in front of the stumps. After facing 13 deliveries, Srikkanth followed his opening partner back to the pavilion without scoring, falling to Curran.

Curran and Rawson continued to wreak havoc as they dismissed two crucial cogs in the Indian middle-order in Sandeep Patil and Mohinder Amarnath to leave India struggling at 9/4. At this point, Indian captain Kapil Dev came in to join Yashpal Sharma at the crease.

However, Sharma bit the dust after being caught behind by keeper Dave Houghton to hand Rawson his third wicket of the match and leave India tottering at 17/5 with Kapil Dev and Roger Binny at the crease.

The skipper rises to the occasion

Zimbabwe had no answer to Kapil’s onslaught

Kapil and Binny began to stitch a partnership together to bring India back into the game. While the Indian captain played aggressively, his partner Binny batted patiently. The two built a partnership of 60 to give the Indian fans something to cheer for.

However, John Traicos trapped Binny lbw and a few minutes later, Ravi Shastri was sent packing by Zimbabwe skipper Duncan Fletcher with India now at 78/7. However, Kapil was in no mood to throw in the towel and continued to smash the Zimbabwean bowlers to all parts of the ground. Following Madan Lal’s departure, Syed Kirmani arrived at the crease and played in a risk-free manner as Kapil raced to his century at the other end.

The 24-year-old eventually helped India to a total of 266/8 in 60 overs as he scored a mammoth 175 from just 138 deliveries, smashing 16 fours and 6 sixes. Kapil’s 175 was at the time the highest individual score in World Cup history, bettering Glenn Turner’s 171 for New Zealand against East Africa at Edgbaston during the 1975 World Cup.

The Indian bowlers limit Zimbabwe to 235

In reply, Zimbabwe were off to a good start as openers Robin Brown and Grant Paterson added 44 runs for the first wicket before the latter was trapped lbw by Binny. This triggered a collapse as Zimbabwe lost their next five wickets for just 69 runs to leave them reeling at 113/6.

Curran’s batting gave Zimbabwe some hope as he hit some beautiful boundaries and along with Ian Butchart, added 55 for the seventh wicket. Curran batted beautifully en route to 73 but disaster struck as he was dismissed by Madan Lal to all but crush Zimbabwe’s hopes of victory.

After dismantling the Zimbabwean bowlers with the bat, Kapil gave the perfect finish to the match by taking the last wicket with the ball as he caught John Traicos off his own bowling. Zimbabwe were bowled out for 235, exiting the tournament in the process.

Kapil Dev was adjudged the Man of the Match for his heroic 175 and even though this came against a relatively weak side, the circumstances under which it was played make it one of the finest World Cup innings ever.