India vs Australia: A lookback at their World Cup tussles

India and Australia face each other in the second semifinal of the 2015 World Cup at the Sydney Cricket ground (SCG) on Thursday. It promises to be a mouth-watering encounter between the two sides as the winner will head to Melbourne to take on New Zealand in the finals.Both the teams have met on 10 occasions in the World Cup, with the first match between them taking place at Nottingham in World Cup 1983. The Aussies clearly have the upper hand against the Men in Blue in the World Cup tournaments, as they have won 7 times while India only 3.Here’s a look back at the fascinating games between the four-time World champions and the defending champions.

#1 India vs Australia Trent Bridge 13 June 1983

India and Australia squared off against each another for the first time in a World Cup in 1983 at Trent Bridge. Australian captain Kim Hughes won the toss and elected to bat first. Led by a 131-ball 110 by Trevor Chappell and a 73-ball 66 by Graham Yallop, the Aussies posted a competitive total of 320 for 9 in 60 overs. Kapil Dev was the pick of the bowlers for the Indians taking 5 for 43 in 12 overs.

In reply, none of the Indian top-order batsmen could play the big innings that was required for them to get close to the opposition’s total and were eventually bundled out for 158 in 37.5 overs. Kapil Dev was once again the main contributor with the bat as well with 40 runs off 27 balls. Ken MacLeay was the chief destroyer for the Australians, picking up figures of 6 for 39 in 11.5 overs as India succumbed to a 162-run loss.

#2 India vs Australia Chelmsford 20 June 1983

The two teams met again exactly a week later in Chelmsford. This time, it was India, who won the toss and elected to bat. India's batting once agin failed to deliver and thanks to a 40 from Yashpal Sharma and a 32-ball 21 from Roger Binny, the Kapil Dev led side reached 247 in 55.5 overs. For Australia, Rodney Hogg and Jeff Thompson were pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets each.

Pursuing a target of 248, Australia didn't get off to the best of starts, losing Trevor Chappell for 2. The Indian bowlers maintained a tight grip on the game by drying up the runs as well as picking up wickets at regular intervals as none of the Australian batsmen could go on to play the one big knock that might have sealed them the game.

They were eventually bowled out for 129 runs in 38.2 overs with Madan Lal and Roger Binny taking 4 wickets each and Balwinder Sandhu taking the other 2 wickets, to hand their side a crucial 118-run win.

#3 India vs Australia Chennai 9 October 1987

Indian captain Kapil Dev after winning the toss, elected to bowl first in the 1987 World Cup encounter against Australia at the M.A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. That decision though didn't prove as the right one as the Aussies, led by a 141-ball 110 from Geoff Marsh, 35-ball 35 from Dean Jones and 17-ball 19 not out from Steve Waugh posted 270 for 6 in 50 overs. Manoj Prabhakar picked 2 for 47 in his 10 overs while Roger Binny, Maninder Singh and Ravi Shastri took a wicket each.

In reply, India looked well on course to track down Australia’s total, courtesy of 70’s from Krish Srikkanth and Navjot Sidhu, but after their dismissal, the middle-order failed to stand and perform and despite a few lower-order cameos from Ravi Shastri and Kiran More, the Indians lost the game by one run. For Australia, Craig McDermott was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 56 in 10 overs, but it was Steve Waugh who made the difference, picking up 2 for 52 in 9.5 overs and bundling the hosts out for 269 in final over of the innings.

#4 India vs Australia New Delhi 22 October 1987

In the same World Cup, India and Australia squared off again for the second time, with the match taking place at New Delhi. Australian captain Allan Border won the toss and elected to field first. Helped by crucial half-centuries from Sunil Gavaskar, Navjot Sidhu and Dilip Vengsarkar and a quickfire 50-ball 54 from Mohammad Azharuddin, the Indians put up a huge score of 289 for 6 in 50 overs.

Craig McDermott was once again the pick of the Australia bowlers, taking 3 for 61 while Simon O'Donnell, Bruce Reid and Steve Waugh took one wicket each.

In reply, Australia got off to a good start with the opening pair of Geoff Marsh and David Boon putting on 88 runs for the first wicket. But the fall of Marsh for 33 was the start of the Australian slide as none of the middle-order batsmen could step and get to a big score. They were eventually all out for 233 in 49 overs with the Indian left-arm spinning duo of Maninder Singh and Ravi Shastri taking combined figures of 4 for 69 in 20 overs.

Surprisingly, Mohammad Azharuddin also out bowled the Indian pace attack, consisting of Manoj Prabhakar, Kapil Dev and Chetan Sharma, taking 3 for 19 in 3.5 overs.

#5 India vs Australia Brisbane 1 March 1992

India didn't have the greatest of starts to their 1992 World Cup campaign, losing to England in their first match and then enduring a no-result against Sri Lanka in the next game. As they headed to Brisbane to take on Australia, they knew that a loss here would further worsen their chances to make it to semi-finals of the mega event.

Australia won the toss and opted to bat first. Led by a 108-ball 90 from Dean Jones, they put up a modest 237 for 9 in their 50 overs. Kapil Dev and Manoj Prabhakar took 3 wickets each while Javagal Srinath and Venkatapathy Raju took one wicket apiece.

In reply, India had to chase 236 in 47 overs due to a rain interruption and a 93 off 102 balls from Mohammad Azharuddin and a 42-ball 47 from Sanjay Manjrekar, helped India stay in the contest. 13 were required in the final over of the innings. Tom Moody was handed the ball to bowl the final over and India’s lower-order and the tail had the responsibility of finishing off the game.

They managed to score 9 off 5 balls and with a boundary needed off the final delivery. Srinath swung the ball towards the mid-wicket boundary. Steve Waugh spilled a catch on the fence, but recovered in time and threw it back to David Boon, who was the acting keeper, who took off the bails at the striker’s end while Raju was completing the third run and that run out meant that India were all out for 234 runs, thereby losing the game by 1 run.

Here’s the video of the thrilling finale from that game.

#6 India vs Australia Wankhede Stadium, 27 February 1996

Australia won the toss and elected to bat first in their World Cup encounter against India at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Led by a 135-ball 126 from Mark Waugh at the top of the order and a 59 from skipper Mark Taylor, they posted a competitive score of 258 all out in 50 overs.

In reply, India got off to a blazing start with Sachin Tendulkar setting the tone at the top, but once he was dismissed for 90, stumped by Ian Healy off the bowling of Mark Waugh, India began to lose momentum as none of the middle order batsman apart from Sanjay Manjrekar could build on the foundation laid by the Little Master.

In the end, it was up to the Indian tail to take their side to victory, but thanks to some excellent bowling, particularly from Damien fleming, Australia won the game by a 16-run margin, much to the disappointment of the home fans that had gathered on the ground.

Here’s a video of Tendulkar’s innings from that game.

#7 India vs Australia The Kennington Oval June 4 1999

India took on Australia in the first match of the Super Six stage at The Kennington Oval in the 1999 World Cup. Mohammad Azharuddin won the toss and elected to field first. The Australians made full use of that decision, with Mark Waugh and co. smashing the Indian bowling to all parts of the ground. They eventually finished on 282 for 6 in their 50 overs, with Waugh scoring a 99-balll 83 and the rest chipping in with valuable contributions.

In reply, India were rocked early by a terrific opening spell from Glenn McGrath who picked Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly and Azharuddin cheaply to leave them placed at 17 for 4 within the first 10 overs. Ajay Jadeja and Robin Singh then resurrected the innings with a 141-run stand for the fifth wicket, but the Indians were always the eight ball after the early loss of their top-order and despite Jadeja scoring an unbeaten 100, they were bowled out for 205 in the 49th over, thereby handing Australia 77-run win.

#8 India vs Australia Supersport Park Centurion 15th February 2003

After escaping with a win over the Netherlands in their first game, India moved to the Supersport Park in Centurion to take on Australia in their second Group encounter. Electing to bat first, the Indians got off to a terrible start losing Sourav Ganguly early for 9. A lot depended on the middle-order after that, but none of them could put up any substantial score on the board and they were skittled out for 125 in 41.4 overs. Brett lee was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3 for 36 in 9 overs while Glenn McGrath, Brad Hogg and Darren Lehmann took one wicket each.

In reply, Australia got off to a flying start with the opening pair of Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist putting on 100 runs for the first wicket inside the first 15 overs which completely knocked India out of the contest and the Aussies romped home to a nine-wicket win.

The loss led to widespread protests back home and the residences of several cricketers were targeted.

Here is the highlights from that game.

#9 India vs Australia 23 March 2003 Johannesburg

After a poor start, India made it the final of the 2003 World Cup, thanks to some spirited performances from the players. In the summit clash, they were once again up against Australia at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. Sourav Ganguly won the toss and elected to field first and that decision backfired dramatically as the Australian opening pair of Hayden and Gilchrist took full toll of a nervy looking Indian bowling attack.

Once they were dismissed, it was time for Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn to carry on from where the openers had left off and the duo put on 234-runs for the third wicket with Ponting scoring an unbeaten 140 and Martyn 88 not out to help their side post a massive 359 for 2 in 50 overs.

In reply, all hopes of a miraculous Indian win evaporated very quickly when Mcgrath removed Tendulkar in the very first over for 4 and despite a valiant 82 from Virender Sehwag and a 47 from Rahul Dravid, India were bowled out for 234, thereby losing the game and the final by 125 runs.

Here are the highlights from that game.

#10 India vs Australia Sardar Patel Stadium Ahmedabad 24 March 2011

India squared off against Australia in the quarter-final stage of the 2011 World Cup at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad. Electing to bat first, the Aussies posted 260 for 6 thanks to an 118-ball 104 from Ricky Ponting and 62-ball 53 from Brad Haddin. Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh picked up 2 wickets apiece to restrict Australia to a decent total.

In reply, India got off to a good start with Sachin Tendulkar scoring a half-century to set up the chase, but soon found themselves in trouble at 187 for 5 in the 38th over. That's when Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina stepped up to the occasion and stitched together a match winning stand of 73 runs to record a famous victory for the Men in Blue and seal a spot in the semi-finals of the mega event. India would later go on to win the tournament by defeating Pakistan in the semi-finals and Sri Lanka in the finals.