5 worst collapses in World Cup history

#4 India vs West Indies, Final, 1983 World Cup

Kapil’s Devils triggered one of West Indies’ worst collapses in1983

Never, ever, underestimate an underdog. They could just end up hassling you so much that you make a fatal mistake at a very crucial stage of the game. The West Indies, playing in their third consecutive final of the World Cup, should have remembered this old adage. What transpired at Lord’s on 25 June 1983 is now a glittering chapter in India’s cricketing annals – a triumph of the unheralded over the favourite.

Clive Lloyd won the toss and put Kapil Dev’s squad into bat, hoping to take advantage of the early moisture and cloudy conditions at the time. His decision looked to have been the right one as the fearsome pace battery of Marshall, Roberts, Garner and Holding delivered yet again, with the Indians managing a paltry 183 courtesy Krish Srikkanth, Sandeep Patil, Mohinder Amarnath, and the rest of the lower order. In turn, Balwinder Sandhu fired out the legendary Gordon Greenidge early, but the swaggering Viv Richards set about decimating the bowling in his cold ruthless manner. Something magical was needed if India had to make a match of it.

It came in Madan Lal’s over – Richards pulled a short delivery from outside off-stump a little too early, and the ball took the top edge as it zoomed towards the midwicket boundary. Kapil Dev, at mid-on, ran 20 yards, eyes on the red cherry, and it landed safely in his hands. The Caribbean supporters were shocked, the Indian fans jubilant. Inspired, the rest of the bowlers, with Amarnath and Binny leading the way, kept taking wickets at regular intervals, as India posted a 43-run win with the Windies crumbling to 140 all out.