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| | Winners: West Indies, who defeated England in the finals. | | Winners: West Indies, who defeated England in the finals. |
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| − | =Vivian Richards=
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| − | [http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/world-cup-2015-vivian-richards-west-indies-england-1979-final-match/1/417165.html ''India Today'']
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| − | [[File: match.jpg|Scorecard: Tournament record, highest total, best inning and best bowling|frame|500px]]
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| − | [[File: vivian.jpg|Vivian Richards in full flow against England in the final|frame|500px]]
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| − | Vivian Richards
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| − | February 5, 2015
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| − | ''' “We were the side to beat wherever we went. Being the champion is something we savoured and enjoyed because we took pride in being the best team in the world. The World Cup was won in a fortnight, beating England in England.” '''
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| − | The 1975 World Cup was an experiment to try and create a unified tournament that would excite cricket fans. The teams involved really looked ahead to think through what they were starting. It was not as though the competition was not fierce-it was-but all teams saw it as a fortnight away from bilateral cricket series and enjoyed it for what it was. V. Richards was new to international cricket, a rookie, and simply enjoyed being in the team with some of his batting idols. He barely got to bat through the tournament and was better known for his fielding in the final, when he ran out three batsmen.
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| − | It was only after winning the tournament, and seeing Clive Lloyd holding aloft the silverware on the Lord's balcony, that they felt like they had achieved something special.
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| − | By the time the second World Cup came along, Richards had made some progress in his career as a batsman. He was enjoying the responsibility of being one of the senior batsmen, and was quite excited about expressing himself with the bat this time. The World Cup was in England-they couldn't imagine it could go elsewhere-and he enjoyed the conditions there, especially since he played a lot of county cricket up at Somerset in those days.
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| − | The team too had blossomed into a formidable one and we were seen as the side to beat wherever we went. Not only was the batting line-up really solid with Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Clive Lloyd, Alvin Kallicharan and Collis King, the bowling attack was a potent one with Joel Garner, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts and Colin Croft, all in their prime.
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| − | It was a good, balanced side that now took pride in being known as the best team in the game.
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| − | However, just being favourites does not entitle one to win the tournament, and they knew they would have to step up to the plate when it mattered. They started their campaign against India and registered a comfortable win. From that opening game to the finals was a two-week period, and once we started well, it was all about keeping the winning rhythm going. The league stage went quite well thereafter and we were in the semi-finals without much effort.
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| − | The semi-final was against a very good Pakistani side. They were one of the teams that had bowling firepower as well as batting class. Greenidge and Haynes put on a century partnership that propelled their score to an impressive 290-plus. In those days World Cup games were played with 60 overs to a side but totals of over 240 were hard to come by. They used to construct an innings like they would in the longer version of the game, and some maiden overs at the start of the innings did not inspire murderous thoughts in the change rooms! It was one-day cricket, but it was played at a pace that's unrecognisable these days.
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| − | The Pakistani team matched them stroke for stroke at the start of their run chase. Majid Khan and Zaheer Abbas batted beautifully and there was a period when they had to pull themselves together and raise the game. I was quite pleased with taking three wickets on their way to winning the match and sealing their second straight final berth, against hosts England.
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| − | A lot has been written about the century, Vivian scored in that final, but when he look back all he remembers is Collis King's masterful strokeplay. For much of the partnership he was happy to simply complement Collis and give him as much of the strike as possible. Looking back, some of the shots he hit en route to 86 would have done any batsman of any era proud! They came together when they were four down for 100 and in some trouble and took the team to a position of strength. He was happy to rotate the strike at the start of the innings and it was only right at the end that he really stepped on the gas. Credit for this too goes to Collis as he was going at breakneck speed to ensure that they were scoring at a good clip. That century is also remembered for the last-ball six he hit off Mike Hendrick. He kind of anticipated that he would be aiming for a yorker and moved across and hit it for a six.
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| − | It was a great way to end a satisfying knock, but they knew that they would have to bowl and field well if they wanted to keep the Prudential World Cup with them.
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| − | The openers did put up a good fight by scoring 100-odd for the first wicket, but in those days 290 was a tough ask and they were soon behind the target. Their bowling attack, which had been so miserly in giving away runs right through the tournament, came into its own. England were all out in 50 overs, giving them their second straight World Cup title. It was a moment that they savoured and enjoyed because they took pride in being the best team in the world. However, it's interesting that all of them were watching their bubbly intake even while celebrating. No unfettered binge was possible because some of them would be joining their county teams for Sunday League a couple of days later.
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| − | A few of them simply got into their cars and drove off to their next destination! Imagine: The World Cup was won in a fortnight and players were already thinking of reporting back for their county duties. Those certainly were simple times.
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| − | I look back at all the three finals with a lot of pride because they were the favourites to win all three. The 1983 final did not go their way but that is the nature of sport-nobody is entitled to win if the opposition has played better. The teams of 1975, 1979 and 1983 were the best in that era and I still feel great pride to have been part of all three.
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| − | Vivian Richards scored a century and was Man of the Match in the 1979 final. He was also part of the '75 winning team.
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| | =See also= | | =See also= |
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| | <>[[World Cup (cricket): 2011]] | | <>[[World Cup (cricket): 2011]] |
| | <>[[World Cup (cricket): 2015]] | | <>[[World Cup (cricket): 2015]] |
| | + | <>[[World Cup (cricket): 2019]] |
| | + | <>[[World Cup (cricket): 2023]] |
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| | + | [[Category:Cricket|W |
| | + | WORLD CUP (CRICKET): 1979]] |
| | + | [[Category:India|W |
| | + | WORLD CUP (CRICKET): 1979]] |
| | + | [[Category:Pakistan|W |
| | + | WORLD CUP (CRICKET): 1979]] |
| | + | [[Category:Sports|W |
| | + | WORLD CUP (CRICKET): 1979]] |
| | + | [[Category:Sri Lanka|W |
| | + | WORLD CUP (CRICKET): 1979]] |
All 6 test playing teams participated.
Through the ICC Trophy competition, two non-Test playing teams were selected for the World Cup: Sri Lanka and Canada.
