India wins against all odds in final

Press, 27 June 1983, Page 30

India wins against all odds in final

NZPA London India sensationally won the Prudential one-day World Cricket Cup when it pulled off a 43-run victory, against all the odds, over holders West Indies in the final at Lord’s. The outsiders, India were dismissed for a modest 183 in 54.4 of its 60 overs. After being put in on a good batting pitch, it triumphed in its first-ever final by skittling West Indies for 140 with eight overs left. The Indians rose to the big occasion before a capa-' city 26,000 crowd, and their tenacious out-cricket clinched the trophy. The medium-pace bowlers, Shanna Mandan Lal, who snapped up three for 31, Mohinder Amarnath, with three for 12, and Balwinder Sandhu, who took two for 32, were the heroes of one of India’s most momentous cricketing achievements. India, which won only one match in. the 1975 and 1979 competitions, completed an outstanding double this time by inflicting on West Indies the only two defeats it has ever suffered in the Cup. India, which beat West Indies in its opening group match, rocked the holders when it had the first six batsmen out for 76, with five of the wickets crashing for 26 in 15 overs. Gordon Greenidge was bowled for one, not offering a stroke to Sandhu, but fellow-opener Desmond Haynes and Viv Richards, gave no hint of the disasters ahead as they put on 45 in eight overs. But the West Indian batting disintegrated as Madan Lal sent back Haynes, Rich-

ards, who struck seven fours in his 33, and Larry Gomes in a burst of 18 deliveries. Clive Lloyd, batting with a runner after aggravating a groin injury directly he came in, fell to Roger Binny, while Sandhu had Faoud Bacchus superbly caught behind by Syed Kirmani in the first over of a second spell. Jeff Dujon and Malcolm Marshall lifted West Indies by putting on 43, only for its hopes to dive again as the seventh wicket pair and then Andy Roberts were snapped up in four overs. West Indies’ astonishing decline, which reduced it to 126 for nine in the forty-fifth over, was completed when the man-of-the-match, Amarnath, had Michael Holding lbw to end a last wicket stand with Joel Garner, which delayed the end by a further seven overs. When play began West Indies, giving no hint of the disasters to come, bowled meanly and fielded tightly. It launched the match with Roberts and Garner containing India to two runs in the first five overs, before Roberts had Sunil Gavaskar caught behind for two, to complete a poor sequence of 59 runs in six Cup innings. Krisna Srikkanth and Amarnath put on 57 in 14 overs for the second wicket before the dashing Srikkanth, having hit seven fours in his 38, was lbw trying to turn Marshall on the leg side. Amarnath and Yashpal Sharma sustained the encouraging start by lifting the score to 90 in the thirtieth over before India

crumbled as five wickets fell for 40 in seven frenetic overs. Holding sent Amarnath’s off-stump cartwheeling, while the off-spin bowler, Gomes, dismissed Yashpal just before lunch, and Kapil Dev immediately afterwards when the Indian captain skied a catch to Holding at long-on, having struck two fours earlier. When Roberts returned and accounted for Kirti Azad and Binny, both with the aid of catches by Garner, India were seven for 130 in the 36th over. Its plight was comEounded as Garner came ack for a second spell and in his first over ended Sandeep Patil’s flourish for 27. Marshall’s recall also produced immediate success when he bowled Madan Lal for 17 to make India nine for 161 with 15 overs left. West Indies were held up as the last pair, Kirmani and Sandhu, put on 22, the third highest stand, before the 10 overs of resistance was broken by Holding bowling Kirmani for 14. India’s final total of 183 hardly looked adequate, but it confounded expectations with its fighting performance. The West Indies captain, Clive Lloyd, afterwards accused his side of playing like amateurs. “The batsmen tried to score too quickly. They looked as though they wanted to get it over before tea. They played some very bad shots,” Lloyd said. Scoreboard:— INDIA S. M. Gavaskar c Dujon b Roberts 2 K. Srikkanth lbw b Marshall : 38 M. B. Armanath b Holding. 26 Yashpal Shanna c sub (Logie) b Gomes 11 S. M. Patil c Gomes b Garner 27 Kapil Dev c Holding b Gomes 15 K. B. J. Azad c Gamer b Roberts 0 R. M. H. Binny c Gamer b Roberts . 2 Madan Lal b Marshall . . 17 S. M. H. Kirmani b Holding 14 B. S. Sandhu not out ... 11 Extras (b 5 lbs, w9, nbl). 20 Total (all out 54.4 overs) 183 Fall: 2, 59, 90, 92, 110, 111, 130, 153, 161. Bowling.—Roberts 10, 2, 32, 3; Gamer 12, 4, 24,1; Marshall 11, 1, 24, 2; Holding 9.4, 2, 26, 2; Gomes 11, 1, 49, 2; Richards 1, 0,8, 0. WEST INDIES G. Greenidge b Sandhu . . 1 D. Haynes c Binny b Madan Lal 13 V. Richards c Kapil b Madan Lal 33 C. Lloyd c Kapil b Binny 8 L. Gomes c Gavaskar b Madan Lal 5 F. Bacchus c Kirmani b Sandhu . . 8 J. Dujon b Amarnath ... 25 M. Marshall c Gavaskar b Amarnath 18 A. Roberts lbw b Kapil Dev., 4 M. Holding lbw b Amarnath i 6 J. Gamer not out 5 Extras (lb 4 wlO) 14 Total 140 Fall: 5, 50, 64, 66, 66, 76, 119, 124, 126, 140. Bowling.—Kapil Dev 11, 4,21, 1; B. Sandhu 9,1, 32, 2; Madan Lal 12, 2, 31, 3; R. Binny 10, 1, 23, 1; M. Amarnath 7,0, 12, 3; K. Azad 3,0, 7, 0. * Mas Sf-the-match: Mohinder Amaro* 3 Ji.