Aussie Rule Commenced-Reliance World Cup Cricket 1987

Australia had a very ordinary world cup performance over the second and third version of the world cup judging from their inherent strength and will to win .After finishing close second to indomitable West Indies in the first Prudential world cup in 1975 they failed to even qualify in the second and third version of the world cup cricket .The third was even worse as they were shocked by ICC associate country Zimbabwe in their opening group match. Between 1983 and 1987 they did lot of home works for aligning their cricket to ODI format and their golden generation just started maturing.The competition was won, for the first time, by Australia who defeated their arch-rivals England by seven runs in the most closely fought World Cup final to date in Kolkata‘s Eden Gardens stadium. I

The 1987 Cricket World Cup (also known as the Reliance World Cup) was the fourth edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament. It was held from 8 October to 8 November 1987 co -hosted by India and Pakistan – the first such tournament to be held outside England. The game format was unchanged from the eight-team 1983 event except for a reduction in the number of overs a team played from 60 to 50, the current standard.

The competition was won, for the first time, by Australia who defeated their arch-rivals England by seven runs in the most closely fought World Cup final to date in Kolkata‘s Eden Gardens stadium. The two host nations, India and Pakistan failed to reach the final, after both being eliminated in the semi-finals. The West Indieswhich won the first two world cups and went down to India in the final of the third failed to live up to expectations and did not advance beyond the group stage.

Group A: India, Australia, New Zealand and Zimbabwe.

 Group B: Pakistan, England, West Indies and Sri Lanka

Matches Summary:

Match 1: Played on 9 October 1987 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Madras, India: Australia 270/6 ( GR Marsh 110, DC Boon 49, M Prabhakar 2/47)  beat India 269 All Out ( NS Sidhu 73, K Srikanth 70 , CJ Mcdermott 4/ 56)  by 1 Wicket

Match 2 Played on 10 at Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad, India: New Zealand 242/7(MD Crowe 74, MC Sneden 64, KM Curran 2/51 )  beat Zimbabwe 239 All out  ( DL Haughton 142 , IP Butchart 54 , W Watson 2/ 36, MC Sneden 2/ 53) all out by 3 Wickets

Match 3 Played on 13 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Madras, India: Australia 235/9 (ARBorder 67 ,GR Marsh 62 , SR Waugh 45 , Km Curran 2/29, IP Butchart 2/59) beat Zimbabwe 139 ( KM Curran 30, SP O’Donnel 4/30) by 96Runs.

Match 4 Played on 14 October 1987 at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, India: India 252/7 (NS Sidhu 75, N Kapil Dev 72*, DN Patel 3/36)beat NewZealand 236/8 (KR Rutherford 75, AH Jones 64, Maninder Singh 2/40, RJ Shastri 2/46 )by 16 Runs.

Match 5 Played on 17 October 1987 at Wankhede Stadium, Bombay, India: India 136/2(  DB Vengsharkar 46* SM Gavaskar 43) beat Zimbabwe 135 ( DL Houghton 61, M Prabhakar 4/19, Manindar Singh 3/21) all out  by 8 Wickets

Match 6 Played on 18 October 1987 at Nehru Stadium, Indore, India: Australia 199/4 ( DC Boon 87 , DM Jones 52, AR Border 34)beat New Zealand 196/9 ( MD Crowe 58, JG Wright 47, SR Waugh 2/36, BA Reid 2/38, SP O’Donnell 2/44) by 6 Wickets.

Match 7 Played on 22 October 1987 at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi, India: India 289/6 ( DB Vengsharkar 63, SM Gavaskar 61, NS Sidhu 51 , M McDermott 3/51)  beat Australia 233 ( DC Boon 62, SR Waugh 42 , M Azharuddin 3/19, Maninder Singh 3/34) All Out by 66 runs.

Match 8 Played on 23 October 1987 atEden Gardens, Kolkata, India: New Zealand 228/6 ( JJ Crowe 88 ,MD Crowe 58 ,AH Omarshah 2/ 34, EA Brandes 2/44) beat Zimbabwe 227/5 ( KJ Arnot 51*,DJ Houghton 50 , SL Bock 2/43)  by 4 wickets

Match 9 Played on 26 October 1987 at Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad, India: India 194/3 (NS Sidhu 55, SM Gavaskar 50, N Kapil Dev 41* )beat Zimbabwe 191/ 7( KJ Arnott 60 , C Sharma 2/ 41 ., Kapil Dev 2/ 44)  by 7 wickets

Match 10 Played on 27 October 1987 at Sector 16 Stadium, Chandigarh, India: Australia 251/8( GR Marsh 126, DM Jones 56,) beat New Zealand 234(JGWright61, KR Rutherford 44, SR Waugh 2/37, AR Border 2/ 27) All out by 2 wickets

Match 11 Played on 30 October 1987 at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack, India: Australia 266 /5(DC Boon 93, DM Jones 58, MRJ Valetta 43*)beat Zimbabwe 196/6 ( AJ Paycroft 38, AC Waller 38, McDermott 2/ 43) by 70 runs.

Match 12 Played on 31 October 1987 at VCA Ground, Nagpur, India: India 224/1 (SM Gavaskar 103, KSrikanth 75) beat New Zealand 221/9 (DN Patel 40, JG Wright 35, G Sharma 3/51) by 9 wickets

Group “A ” Points Table:

Teams	Played	Win	Tie	Loss	NRR	Points
India	6	5	0	1	5.41	20
Australia	6	5	0	1	5.19	20
New Zealand	6	2	0	4	4.89	8
Zimbabwe	6	0	0	6	3.76	0

 Group B

Match 1: Played on 8 October 1987 at Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad ,Pakistan : Pakistan 267/6 ( Javed Miandad 103 ,Rameez Raza 76 , beat Sri Lanka 252 All Out (KS Mahanama 89, PA de Silva 42, Abdul Qadir 2/36 ,Imran Khan 2/40) by 15 Runs

Match 2 Played on 9 October 1987 at Municipal Stadium, Gujranwala, Pakistan: England 246/8 ( AJ Lamb 67* , GA Gooch 47 , CL Hopper 3/42 )   beat West Indies 243/7 ( RA Richardson 53 , A Logie 49, PJL Dujon 46, NA Foster 3/53)  by 2 Wickets

Match 3: Played on 13 October 1987 atPindi Club Ground, Rawalpindi: Pakistan 239/7 (Saleem Malik 69, Ijaz Ahmed 59, PAJ Defreitas 3/ 42) beat England 221 All Out ( MA Gatting 43,  BC Broad 36 ,Abdul Qadir 4/36) by 18 runs

Match 4: Played on 13 October 1987 atNational Stadium, Karachi, Pakistan: West Indies 360/4(IVA Richards 181, DL Haynes 105)beat Sri Lanka 169/4 (A Ranatunga 52*, LRD Mendis 37*, AP Gurusinha 36)by 191 Runs

Match 5: Played on 16 October 1987 atGaddafi Stadium, Lahore : Pakistan 217/9 ( Saleem Yusuf 56 , Rameez Raza 42 ,Javed Miandad 33 , CA Walsh 4/40 ) beat West Indies 216 All Out ( IVA Richards 51, PV Simmons 50, D L Haynes  37, Imran Khan 4/37, Saleem Jafar 3/30 )  by 1 Wicket .

Match 6: Played on 17 October   at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar, Pakistan: England 296/4 (GA Gooch 84, AJ Lamb 76, MJ Gatting 58) beat Sri Lanka 158/8 (A Ranatunga 40, by 108 Runs

Match 7: Played on 20 October 1987 at National Stadium, Karachi, Pakistan: Pakistan 247/3(Rameez Raza 113, Saleem Malik 88) beat England 244/9 (CWJ Athey 86, MW Gatting 60, Imran Khan 4/37 ,Abdul Qadir 3/ 31) by 7 Wickets

Match 8 Played on 21 October atGreen Park, Kanpur,India:West Indies236/8(PV Simmons 89, AL Logie 65*, JR Ratnayeke 3/ 41) beat Sri Lanka 211/8(A Ranatunga 86*, BP Patterson 3/31) by 25 Runs

Match 9 Played on 25 October 1987 at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, Pakistan: Pakistan 297/7 (Saleem Mailk 100, Imran Khan 39*, Wasim Akram 39) beat Sri Lanka 184/8 (LRD Mendis 58, A Ranatunga 50, and Abdul Qadir 3/40) by 113 Runs

Match 10 Played on26 October 1987   atSawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur, India: England 269/5 ( GA Gooch 92, AJ Lamb 40 , BP Patterson 3/ 56) beat West Indies 235 All Out ( RB Richardson 93 IVA Richards 51, PAJ Defreitas 3/ 28) by 34 Runs

Match 11 Played on 26 October 1987 at Nehru Stadium, Poona, India:England 219/2 (GA Gooch 61, RT Robinson 55, MW Gatting 46* and CWJ Athey 40 * ) beat Sri Lanka 218/7 (RL Dias 80, AP Gurusina 34 , EE Hemmings 3/57)  by 8 Wickets

Match 12 Played on 30 October 1987 at National Stadium, Karachi, Pakistan: West Indies 258/7 (RB Richardson 110, IVA Richards 67, and Imran Khan 3/57) beat Pakistan 230 (Rameez Raza 70, Mudassar Nazar 40, Patterson 3/34, and Benjamin 3/39) by 28 Runs

Group B-Points Table:

Team	Played	Win	Tie	Loss	NRR	Pts
Pakistan	6	5	0	1	5.01	20
Engalnd	6	4	0	2	5.14	16
West Indies	6	3	0	3	5.16	12
Sri Lanka	6	0	0	6	4.04	0

Semi-finals:Hosts Pakistan and India got knocked out

Australia vs Pakistan Played at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore on 4 November 1987

Australia 267 /6 (DJ Boon 65, MRJ Valletta 48, SR Waugh 32 *, Imran Khan 3/36) Javed Miandad 70, Imran Khan 58, CJ McDermott 5/ 44) beat Pakistan 249 All out by 18 runs

Avery strong Pakistan team stormed into semifinal to go all the way .But they were undone by a determined Australian team by 18 runs at Pakistan’s home of cricket at Gaddafi stadium, Lahore.

Australia won the toss and elected to bat. The Australian batsmen got off to a very fluent start,. Dynamic David Boon (65 from 91 balls, 4 fours) top scoring, and making an 82 run second-wicket partnership with DM Jones led Australia laid the strong launching pad for later order to kick on. . Australia at one stage were looking good to reach 300 with strong batting till Imran Khan took 3 wickets for 17 runs in 5 overs restricted them.  Australia lost 4/31, but a high number of extras (34) from the Pakistani bowlers, as well as the solid batting from earlier on, brought Australia to 267 (8 wickets, 50 overs).

Pakistan started their response poorly,shaking at 3/38. Two leading professionals of World Cricket Imran Khan (58 from 84 balls, 4 fours) and Javed Miandad (70 from 103 balls, 4 fours) shared a partnership of 112 runs in 26 overs. However, with the required run rate at 7.87 runs when Miandad fell, there was just too much for the later order batsmen to keep the momentum going.  Pakistan lost 6/99 and were bowled all out for 249 (all out, 49 overs) losing by 18 runs.

England Vs India Played on 5 November 1987 at Bombay.

England 254/6 (GA Gooch 115, MWGatting 56, Maninder Singh 3/54, Kapil Dev 2/ 38) beat India 219 (Mohammad Azharuddin 64 .K Srikanth 31 , Kapil Dev 30, EE Hemmings 4/54 ,NA Foster 3/47) All Out by 35 Runs.

India won the toss and put England to bat. Indian strength on Indian wicket was spin bowling of Ravi Shanker Shastri and Moninder Singh .Robinson and Athey were removed early. Seasoned campaigners Graham Gooch (115 from 136 balls, 11 fours) and CaptainMike Gatting (56 from 62 balls, 5 fours) adopted the right technique of taking their feet across and sweeping the spinners on the slow turning wicket. They produced a match winning partnership of 117 runs in 19 overs. Before Gooch was finally stumped off Maninder he already did the damage scoring 115 runs of 136 deliveries. After his departure at 203, 51 more runs were added, and England reached 254 (6 wickets, 50 overs).

India had a poor start and at one stage lost Srikanth, Gavasker and Sidhu for 73 on board. The middle order however batted fluently, with Mohammed Azharuddin, (64 from 74 balls, 7 fours) top scoring. India was at 5/204, needing 5 runs an over from the last 10 overs, with 5 wickets in hand, and it looked like it would be a very close game. But after Azharuddin removed lbw by Eddie Hemmings, the middle and tail end batting witnessed dramatic collapse, as India lost 5/15. India were eventually bowled all out for 219 (all out, 45.3 overs), giving England both a berth in the final and a measure of revenge for the loss they suffered to India in the semifinal of the World Cup four years earlier in England.

Both the fancied hosts got knocked out by two teams Australia and England on their unaccustomed surfaces. England once again had an opportunity to have a grab on the cricket’s top honor.

Final Played on 8 November 1987 At Eden Gardens Kolkata:

Australia 253/5 (DC Boon 75, MRJ Valetta 45*, DM Jones 33, EE Hemmings 2/58) beat England 246/8 ( CWJ Athey 58, AL Lamb 45 , MW Gatting 41, S Waugh 2/27, A Border 2/ 38 ) by 7 Runs

It was not the ashes. It was not played at MCG or Lords .Yet it was the final of the World Cup between two top dogs of world cricket in historic Eden Gardens in front of 95,000 cricket worshippers. Australia was losing finalist inthe inaugural contest , England also featured in the final of the second tournament .But both lost to eventual winner West Indies .There were lost to play for . The match also produced fascinating contest and Australia finally managed to get over their traditional rival by only 7 runs in a sea saw battle.

Australia won the toss and chose to bat. Flamboyant opener David Boon (75 from 125 balls, 7 fours) top-scored for Australia. . With few others like Jones and Valetta making useful contributions Australia posted a challenging 253 (5 wickets, 50 overs). English bowlers lost control at the later stage as Mike Veletta (45 from 31 balls, 6 fours) cut loose at crunch time. Australia blasted 65 runs from the last 6 overs which made ordinary looking innings a relative healthier look.

English response was disastrous. Opener Tim Robinson was bowled for a first ball duck. Bill Athey (58 from 103 balls, 2 fours) top-scored.  England were moving well with over rate under control . But an over ambitious suicidal reverse sweep by CaptainMike Gatting (41 from 45 balls, 3 fours, 1 six) handed back the initiative with the loss of his wicket. This brought curtain to a growing partnership of 69 runs in 13 overs between him and Athey. Allan Lamb (45 from 55 balls, 4 fours) also batted well but it was in vain as the required run-rate for England began to go out of control. . England was score the last 17 runs from the final over .But they managed 10 and lost by 7 runs .Australia won the first of the four world cups .Aussie rule of cricket supremacy started.

1987 Reliance World Cup statistics

• Administrator – International Cricket Council
• Cricket format – One Day International
• Tournament formats – Round robin and Knockout
• Hosts – India and Pakistan
• Champions – Australia (1st title)
• Participants – 8
• Matches played – 27
• Most runs – Graham Gooch (471)
• Most wickets – Craig McDermott (18)
• MOM-David Boon(Aus)