World Cup History: 4 finals played at Lord's

Lord's cricket stadium in London will host the final of the 2019 World Cup between the hosts England and New Zealand. It will be the fifth time that Lord's will be hosting a final in the World Cup. The other four occasions were in the years 1975,1979, 1983 and 1999.

The remaining World Cup finals have been hosted by Eden Gardens in 1987, Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1992 and 2015, Gaddafi Stadium in 1996, Wanderers in 2003, Kensington Oval in 2007 and Wankhede Stadium in 2011.

After a gap of almost 20 years, the 'home of cricket' will once again host a World Cup final. In the previous 4 finals at the iconic venue, 3 games have been won by the team batting first and Australia won the World Cup in the year 1999 when they chased down the target set by Pakistan.

Here is a look at the four previous finals hosted by Lord's cricket ground and how the teams fared in the finals:

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1975 - West Indies win the maiden World Cup trophy

Clive Lloyd led West Indies to a win in the 1975 World Cup

21st June, 1975 was the day when the cricket world saw West Indies being crowned as the first-ever world champions. The final was played at Lord's.

Despite Gary Gilmour's 5 wickets in the final, West Indies scored 291 runs in their 60 overs. Clive Lloyd played a captain's knock and scored an attacking 102 of just 85 balls. The innings by the skipper set the tone for the rest of the innings and West Indies set a competitive target of 292.

Australia kept losing wickets at regular intervals but skipper Ian Chappell scored a patient 62 before getting run-out. After that, Australia kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were reduced to 233-9. However, the last wicket partnership between Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee looked to guide Australia home. The duo added 41 before Thomson was run-out.

West Indies beat Australia by 17 runs and were crowned as world champions. Lord's lived up to its expectations and played host to a thrilling World Cup final.

1979 - West Indies thrash England

West Indies were crowned as World Champions once again in the year 1979

West Indies won their second consecutive World Cup in the year 1979 at Lord's. After beating Australia in a thriller in the finals four years before, Clive Lloyd's men beat England by a margin of 92 runs in the 1979 World Cup finals.

Sir Viv Richards dominated the final and scored an unbeaten 138. Richards played attacking cricket and was well supported by Collis King who scored 86 of just 66 deliveries. The duo toyed with the English bowling and West Indies put up an impressive score of 286 in their allotted 60 overs.

England started the chase positively with both openers Mike Brearley and Geoff Boycott scoring impressive half-centuries. However, once Holding dismissed both the openers, England collapsed from 129-0 to 194 all out. Joel Garner was the pick of the bowlers and he had impressive figures of 5 wickets for 38 runs in his 11 overs. He picked up the vital wickets of Graham Gooch, David Gower, Chris Old, Wayne Larkins and Bob Taylor.

The hosts were comprehensively beaten by a margin of 92 runs in the finals and West Indies once again were the deserving winners of the World Cup trophy for the second consecutive time.

Lord's proved to be a lucky hunting ground for Lloyd's men who were dominating World Cup cricket in the 1970s and were near invincible.

1983 - India stun West Indies

India beat favourites West Indies in the 1983 World Cup final

The final of the 1983 World Cup was viewed as a David Vs Goliath by many cricket experts. West Indies, who had won the previous two World Cups once again marched their way into the third successive World Cup final at Lord's.

India, on the other hand, played poor cricket in the previous two World Cups and had just 1 win to their credit. However they played well as a unit in 1983 and reached the final to meet the fierce West Indies.

West Indies' fast bowlers dominated the final and Andy Roberts was the pick of the bowlers and had figures of 3-32 in his 10 overs. Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding and Larry Gomes picked up 2 wickets apiece and India were bundled out for an average total of 183 with Krishnamachari Srikkanth being the top scorer. He scored 38 runs.

West Indies were expected to chase 184 with ease and won their third consecutive World Cup. However, the Indian bowlers kept picking wickets at regular intervals and the dream of India winning a World Cup was finally coming tur. Madan Lal and Mohinder Amarnath were the pick of the Indian bowlers and the duo picked up 3 wickets each.

Clive Lloyd's men were bowled out for just 140 and India won the final at Lord's by a margin of 43 runs. India had caused a massive upset and the two-time champions were defeated on the same ground where they had triumphed on two earlier occasions.

1999 - Clinical Australia beat Pakistan

Australia thrashed Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup finals at Lord's

16 years after hosting a World Cup final, the Lord's cricket ground was set to host the final of the 1999 World Cup and the encounter between Australia and Pakistan was expected to be an exciting contest. Pakistan had beaten Australia in the group stages and were all set to repeat the performance at Lord's.

However, Australia, riding on Shane Warne's 4 wickets for 33 runs in 9 overs, bowled out a strong Pakistan line up for a paltry total of 132 in just 39 overs. Ijaz Ahmed was the top scorer and he scored just 22 runs in the innings. Glenn McGrath and Tom Moody too contributed with the ball and the duo picked up two wickets each.

Australia chased the target of 133 with ease with Adam Gilchrist blasting 54 runs in 36 balls with 8 boundaries and one six. The target was chased in just 20.1 overs and for the first time, a World Cup final was dominated only by one team.

It was the first time that Australia and Pakistan played a World Cup final at Lord's. The victory set the tone for Australia to dominate world cricket in the years to come and Australia won three World Cups thereafter i.e. 2003, 2007 and 2015.