 |
|
 |
 |
India and the West Indies have an eloquent history of cricketing encounters against each other, and the "Utsav Zone" celebrates just that. Moments of glory, performances to cherish, matches to remember for a lifetime - we pick them out from the 70 Tests and 66 one-dayers these two teams have fought over. Packaged together, the "Utsav Zone" presents you genuine cause to celebrate the sport's rich and hoary past.
|
|
|
|
An omen for the West Indies
© CricInfo |
In 10 World Cup matches before their first of the 1983 edition of
the world's premier one-day tournament, the West Indies had never
been beaten even once. Naturally, then, on a muggy June 9 in
Manchester, nobody expected them to have any trouble in brushing
aside the challenge of a Kapil Dev-led Indian side.
Clive Lloyd winning the toss and inserting the Indians in meant
that the odds were even more heavily stacked against the Indians
when play finally got underway after a delayed start. In damp,
bowler-friendly conditions, the Indian openers - Sunil Gavaskar
and Krish Srikkanth - struggled, falling for 19 and 14
respectively. Mohinder Amarnath too could not make much headway,
being dismissed for 21 off 60 balls.
These setbacks did not daunt Sandeep Patil; he played in his
usual aggressive fashion, making 36 off 52 balls. But his
dismissal, followed by the early departure of Kapil Dev, meant
that India's hopes of pulling off an upset win were fast
vapourising.
Fortunately, the gritty Yashpal Sharma chose this moment to play
his finest one-day knock. In the company of a determined Roger
Binny (27), Yashpal put on 73 vital runs for the seventh wicket.
When Yashpal eventually fell after making 89 off 120 balls with
nine fours, India had recovered to reach 243 for seven. Madan Lal
chipping in with an almost run-a-ball 21 meant that the underdogs
reached 262 for eight by the end of their allotted 60 overs. It
was their highest score in three World Cups and a daunting total
to chase, even for the mighty West Indian batting line-up.
The two-time defending champions made an encouraging start to
their reply; Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge put on 49 runs
before Haynes was run-out in the 14th over. The West Indies,
then, were 67 for two when play ended on the day.
The next morning saw Binny claim the all-important scalp of Viv
Richards (17). The West Indies weren't to recover from the shock
that dismissal caused. The world champions' reply foundered as a
string of batsmen made early exits. But for a 71-run 10th-wicket
partnership between fast bowlers Joel Garner (37) and Andy
Roberts (37), the margin of their defeat would have been even
higher than the eventual 34 runs. The new champions had arrived;
the fairy-tale run of Kapil's Devils, as they came to be known,
was to culminate in a grand win in the World Cup final at Lord's.
© CricInfo
[Archive]
