World Cup 1979 West Indian Calypso Rule Extended

Prudential World Cup 1979
…West Indian Calypso Rule Extended…

The period from late 1970s till mid-1980s saw the emergence of a highly talented group of Caribbean cricketers –tear away fast bowlers and explosive batsmen of exceptional quality that made West Indies team arguably the best ever to play the game. Gordon Greenidge ,Desmond Haynes , Alvin Kallicharan, Lawrence Rowe , Vivian Richards , Clive Lloyd , Andy Roberts ,Malcolm Marshal ,Micheal Holding ,Joel Garner formed a very formidable team that many thought the best ever in any format of the game .

The only other team which could come anyway near to challenge them with quality and competence the South Africa was unfortunately suspended over that period for apartheid policy of their government. Barry Richards,Graeme Pollock, Eddie Barlow, Mike Proctor, Peter Pollock, Kepler Wessels, Collin Bland ,Peter Vander Merwe , Ali Bacher had all the qualities the challenge the West Indians during this time. But politics deprived the cricket world from witnessing the fascinating contest of two possibly equally matched cricket teams .The other teams like Australia , England ,Pakistan ,India had great individual players but as a team could not match the West Indians for the relentless bowling and aggressive batting of 1979 world cup team. They were head and shoulder above the rest.

The 1979 Cricket World Cup (aka Prudential World Cup, 1979) was the second edition of the tournament. It was held from 9 to 23 June 1979 in England again. Eight countries participated in the event. The preliminary matches were played in 2 groups of 4 each. The top two teams in each group played the semifinals, whose winners played the final. The matches played consisted of 60overs per team and were played in traditional white clothing and with red balls. For the second time in succession Clive Lloyd the proud leader of West Indies lifted the trophy at Lords beating the mother country England this time in the final.

The ICC associate Canada was a definite misfit in the group which was overwhelmed by the rest three in absolutely one sided matches. Pakistan and Australia beat them by 8 and 7 wickets, England humiliated them bundling them all out for a paltry 45 runs. England won all three matches though the match against Pakistan had very exiting finish. Pakistan winning the toss and putting England to bat managed to restrict England to a manageable score of 165 /9 .Few English batsmen GA Gooch (33), DJ Gower ( 27 ) ,IT Botham (22 ) could make start but against steady Pakistan attack they could not get going. Majid Khan got 3/ 27, Sikandar Bakhth 3/ 32 and Asif Iqbal 2/37. Pakistan however failed to bat well and lost the match by 14 runs .Asif scored 51,Wasim Raja and Imran Khan both contributed 21 each. A devastating spell of accurate swing bowling by Mike Hendricks taking 4 /15 took the sail out of Pakistan boat.Paksiatn however played brilliantly against Australia winning by 89 runs. Put to bat Pakistan scored very impressive 286/7 in allotted overs. Asif Iqbal (61) Majid Khan (61) , Javed Miandad (46 ) were principal scorers . Australia in reply was bundled out for 197 when only Hilditch (72) and Yallop (37) could only do justice with the bat. Sikander Bakht took 3/34 and Majid 3/53 were main destroyers for Pakistan. England and Pakistan from the group qualified for the semifinals.

Very strong West Indies had no match in the group .They rolled over India by 8 wickets and won comfortably against New Zealand by 32 runs. The match against Sri Lanka at Oval was rained off even after rescheduling on two rest days. A fearsome four pronged fast bowling attack of Roberts ,Holding , Garner and Croft were too hot to handle .Greenidge ,Haynes , Kallicharan, Richards , Lloyd , King were a devastating batting unit . India was still struggling to learn limited over version of the game and New Zealand was pretty steady. Sri Lanka surprised all beating India by 47 runs. Batting first Lankans through three half centuries from SRD Wittimuny 67, LRD Mendis (64) and RJ Dias (50) scored competitive 238 /5 in 60 overs which their bowlers capably defended. India could score 191 only in reply .DS de Silva 3/29, ARM Opatha 3/31 plotted the Indian downfall as no batsmen could reach 50. Sri Lanka announced very strongly their presence in World Cricket. The match between West Indies and New Zealand created some contest .West Indies batting first scored 244 /7 with CL Lloyd ( 72* ) and GG Greenidge ( 65) being main scorers .New Zealand in response could score 212 /9 as Roberts ,Garner , Holding and Croft stifled the Kiwis with fast and furious bowling. Roberts took 3/43 and Garner 2/45. West Indies and New Zealand advanced to Semi Finals.

Semi Finals.
England Vs New Zealand Played at Old Trafford Manchester on 20 June 1979
England 221 /8 beat New Zealand 212 /9 by 9 runs.
England could peep the Kiwis to the post In a very keenly contested match. Winning the toss and electing to field New Zealand could restrict England to a manageable score of 221/8. England started poorly,struggling at 38/2, before Mike Brearley (53 from 115 balls, 3 fours) and Graham Gooch (71 from 84 balls, 1 four, 3 sixes) resurrected the innings. Derek Randall(42 from 50 balls, 1 four, 1 six) played well in the second half of the innings, as England recovered from 98/4 to post 221 (8 wickets, 60 overs). Kiwis started brightly with John Wright(69 from 137 balls) leading the way. . However, the loss of regular wickets bogged New Zealand down, and despite several late flourishes in the batting order, New Zealand progressively dropped behind. England could finally squeeze the Kiwis out by a margin of 14 runs to advance to the final.

West Indies Vs Pakistan at Oval London on 20th June 1979
West Indies 293 /6 beat Pakistan 250 All Out by 43 Runs.
Batting first West Indies set a very steep target for Pakistan of 294 to win. Gordon (73 from 107 balls, 5 fours, 1 six) and Desmond Haynes (65 from 115 balls, 4 fours) at first wicket partnership of 132 runs set a solid foundation.Vivian Richards and Clive Lloyd from such a launching pad batted aggressively as West Indies ran up 293 (6 wickets, 60 overs).
Pakistan with its golden generation of brilliant and attractive stroke makers was proving equal to the daunting task. Majestic Majid Khan (81 from 124 balls, 7 fours) and Asian Bradman Zaheer Abbas (93 from 122 balls) shared a second-wicket partnership of 166 runs in 36 overs kept Pakistan on course. Once they were accounted for none of the other Pakistani batsmen flourished, with one of their main stay Javed Miandad being bowled for a duck first ball, and Pakistan lost 9/74, beginning with the dismissal of Abbas. Pakistan was bowled all out for 250 (all out, 56.2 overs) in the high-scoring semifinal, sending the West Indies to the final.

Final of Second Prudential World Cup 1979
West Indies Vs England Played at Lords on 23 June 1979
West Indies 286/9 beat England 194 All Out by 92 Runs.
The final of the 1979 ICC Cricket World Cup was played in Lord’s, London on 23 June. This was the second time the Lord’s hosted an ICC Cricket World Cup final. The match was finally won by West Indies when they defeated England by 92 runs to lift the trophy.
England put West Indies to bat and managed to make early inroads The West Indies was keep under control at 99/4 with the loss of Greenside, Haynes, Kallicharan, and captain Clive Lloyd. But in came “Smoking Joe” Master Blaster Vivian Richards (138 from 157 balls, 11 fours, 3 sixes) to play one of the most memorable innings ever to be seen at World Cup. He blasted England out of the match with wonderful exhibition of power cricket striking English bowlers all over the park. His allay in annihilation was Collis King (86 from 66 balls, 10 fours, 3 sixes) . They together batted England out of the match. King also ripped through the English bowling, with a strike rate of 130.3. The West Indies were already at 5/238 when the 139 run partnership ended with the loss of Collis King. Vivian Richards and the tail then took the West Indies to a very imposing total of 286 (9 wickets, 60 overs).
The English batsmen got off to a good start. But the openers, Mike Brearley (64 from 130 balls, 7 fours) and Geoff Boycott (57 from 105 balls, 3 fours) scored very slowly. They put together a very methodical opening partnership of 129 runs in 38 overs, playing as if the match were a five-day Test. By the time both batsmen were out, the run rate had risen too steep. However, the loss of Gooch triggered the most devastating collapse in World Cup history, as England lost 8/11. They were eventually all out for 194 in 51 overs. West Indies deservedly won and Jubilant Clive Lloyd for the second time lifted the Trophy at Lords.Vivian Richards for his epic batting was declared Man of the Match. No one anywhere in the cricket world could at all dispute the supremacy of all round ability of West Indies team having some of the all-time greats at all departments of the game.
Vivian Richards was declared ‘Man of the Match’, while there was no ‘Man of the Series’. The most runs were taken by Gordon Greenidge (253), while most wickets claimed by Mike Hendrick (10).

Results Summary
• 1st Match: India v West Indies at Birmingham – Jun 9, 1979, West Indies won by 9 wickets (with 8.3 overs remaining) (Ind 190 ; WI 194/1)
• 2nd Match: New Zealand v Sri Lanka at Nottingham – Jun 9, 1979, New Zealand won by 9 wickets (with 12.2 overs remaining) (SL 189; NZ 190/1)
• 3rd Match: England v Australia at Lord’s – Jun 9, 1979, England won by 6 wickets (with 12.5 overs remaining) (Aus 159/9; Eng 160/4)
• 4th Match: Canada v Pakistan at Leeds – Jun 9, 1979, Pakistan won by 8 wickets (with 19.5 overs remaining) (Can 139/9; Pak 140/2)
• 5th Match: Sri Lanka v West Indies at The Oval – Jun 13-15, 1979, Match abandoned without a ball bowled
• 6th Match: India v New Zealand at Leeds – Jun 13, 1979, New Zealand won by 8 wickets (with 3 overs remaining) (Ind 182; NZ 183/2)
• 7th Match: Australia v Pakistan at Nottingham – Jun 13-14, 1979, Pakistan won by 89 runs (Pak 286/7; Aus 197)
• 8th Match: England v Canada at Manchester – Jun 13-14, 1979, England won by 8 wickets (with 46.1 overs remaining) (Can 45; Eng 46/2)
• 9th Match: India v Sri Lanka at Manchester – Jun 16-18, 1979, Sri Lanka won by 47 runs (SL 238/5; Ind 191)
• 10th Match: New Zealand v West Indies at Nottingham – Jun 16, 1979, West Indies won by 32 runs (WI 244/7; NZ 212/9)
• 11th Match: Australia v Canada at Birmingham – Jun 16, 1979, Australia won by 7 wickets (with 34 overs remaining) (Can 105; Aus 106/3)
• 12th Match: England v Pakistan at Leeds – Jun 16, 1979, England won by 14 runs (Eng 165/9; Pak 151)
• 1st Semi Final: England v New Zealand at Manchester – Jun 20, 1979, England won by 9 runs (Eng 221/8; NZ 212/9)
• 2nd Semi Final: Pakistan v West Indies at The Oval – Jun 20, 1979, West Indies won by 43 runs (WI 293/6; Pak 250)
• Final: England v West Indies at Lord’s – Jun 23, 1979, West Indies won by 92 runs (WI 286/9; Eng 194)

1979 Prudential World Cup statistics
• Administrator – International Cricket Council
• Cricket format – One Day International
• Tournament formats – Round robin and Knockout
• Host – England
• Champions – West Indies (2nd title)

• Runner-up – England
• Participants – 8
• Matches played – 15
• Attendance – 132,000 (8,800 per match)
• Most runs – Gordon Greenidge (253)
• Most wickets – Mike Hendrick (10)

• MOM – Viv Richard