INDIA v
WEST INDIES (FINAL) • LORD’S, LONDON, 25 JUNE 1983
 |
| Mohinder Amarnath cuts on the way to his man-of-the-match performance. |
Lord’s
was bathed in bright sunshine and ready to crown the undisputed kings of
cricket, the West Indies, with yet another title. The conquerors from the
Caribbean marshalled by the elder statesman Clive Lloyd had won the first two
World Cups, and were poised to make it a hat-trick on this beautiful day
against surprise finalists, India.
The Indian World Cup record had been
dismal. In two tournaments they had won a total of one match, against lowly
East Africa in 1975. In 1983, the Australian captain Kim Hughes had rated the
Indians as “dark horses” to win the championship. They sprang a surprise in the
opening encounter by inflicting upon the West Indies their first defeat in the
World Cup. Then they nearly faltered against Zimbabwe before being bailed out
by a Herculean effort from their captain, Kapil Dev. But now in the final they
were not expected to take the title away from the reigning champions.
The match began true to form with Andy
Roberts and Joel Garner bowling extremely accurately. Garner’s steeply rising
deliveries bowled from his great height, were impossible to get away. Soon
Sunil Gavaskar fished at one from Roberts and was easily snapped up at the
wicket. Krishnamachari Srikkanth dazzled for a while in his customary fashion,
and even delighted the crowd with a hooked six off Roberts. He and Mohinder
Amarnath put on 57 for second wicket. Then Yashpal Sharma helped Amarnath in a
useful stand, and at 90 for two the Indian score bore a healthy look.
Disaster was round the corner as Amarnath
was comprehensively bowled by Michael Holding, and Yashpal fell to the gentle
off-break of Larry Gomes. Though Sandeep Patil played a useful knock, the
innings fell away in the face of some fine bowling by the West Indians. Had it
not been for a fighting last-wicket stand between Syed Kirmani and Balwinder
Sandhu, the Indian total would have looked even more pitiable than their 183
all out in 54.4 overs.
There was a sensational start to the West
Indies innings as Gordon Greenidge shouldered arms to an incoming delivery from
Sandhu and was bowled for 1. You could not blame Greenidge, for Sandhu himself
thought he had bowled an out-swinger. Instead, the ball came in sharply after
hitting the seam. That set the stage for a grand entry by the imperious Vivian
Richards. And he batted like the monarch that he often was at the crease.
As he smashed the bowling to all the
corners of the hallowed ground, an early West Indies victory looked most
likely. Just then he skied Madan Lal high over mid-wicket. Kapil Dev turned and
ran after the ball that was rapidly going away from him. After what seemed an
eternity the Indian skipper clung on to the prize. The door seemed to have
opened for the underdogs. They stuck to their task, bowled tightly, fielded
brilliantly and were constantly egged on by their captain. Wickets started
tumbling; soon it was 76 for six. Jeff Dujon and Malcolm Marshall hung on for a
while, and when the day’s hero Amarnath trapped Holding plumb in front, the
sensational upset left everyone dumbfounded. "Now Indian mystics walk
through fire", screamed the headline of Tony Lewis' report in The Sunday
Telegraph.
And even the diehard Indian fans were
stunned by this memorable win.
India : 183 all out (54.4 overs)
West
Indies : 140 all out (52 overs)
(Author Indra Vikram Singh can be contacted on email singh_iv@hotmail.com).
Follow
his blogs:
Indra
Vikram Singh’s books are available at attractive prices on Amazon:
The
Big Book of World Cup Cricket 1975-2011
Published
in India by Sporting Links
ISBN
978-81-901668-4-3
Crowning
Glory
Published
by Sporting Links
ISBN
978-81-901668-6-7
Don’s
Century
Published
in India by Sporting Links
ISBN
978-81-901668-5-0
A
Maharaja’s Turf
Published
in India by Sporting Links
ISBN
978-81-901668-3-6
Indra Vikram Singh’s forthcoming books:
Indian Spring, on India’s triumph in the
cricket World Cup 2011
Wonder Down Under, special souvenir on the
cricket World Cup 2015
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