1987 Cricket World Cup – The 1987 Cricket World Cup (officially known as the 1987 Reliance Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the fourth Cricket World Cup. It was held from 8 October to 8 November 1987 in India and Pakistan – the first tournament to be held outside the continent. The one-day format has not changed from the eight-team event in 1983. Two of the reds in the number of overs played by teams were changed from 60 to 50, the current standard for all ODIs.
The competition was won, for the first time, by Australia, who defeated their arch-rivals by seven runs in their second closest World Cup final to date at Kolkata’s Ed Gards Stadium. The two host nations, India and Pakistan, failed to reach the final after both were eliminated in the semi-finals. West Indies failed to live up to expectations and failed to advance from the group stage.
1987 Cricket World Cup
The format of the competition is two groups of four teams, each team playing twice in 50-over matches. The top two teams from each group advance to the semi-finals, with the two winners advancing to the final. All matches were played during the day and – for the last time in the history of the tournament – saw the team dressed in traditional white clothing and using the traditional red ball as used in Test/First Class matches.
Best Bowling Spells At Cricket World Cup 1987
The ICC decided that all seven (eligible) nations with Test status would automatically qualify for the tournament; Additional Test berths will be awarded to the winners of the 1986 ICC Trophy; for the second time it was Zimbabwe who beat the Netherlands to claim a place.
Australia won the toss and elected to bat. Australia’s batsmen started well and scored in spades, with David Boon (65 off 91 balls, 4 fours) top-scoring and building a second-wicket partnership of 82 with DM Jones. Australia looked to reach 300 with strong batting before Imran Khan took 3 wickets for 17 runs in 5 overs. Australia lost 4/31, but the high number of extras (34) from the Pakistani bowlers, as well as solid batting from earlier, took Australia to 267 (6 wickets, 50 overs). Pakistan started poorly and collapsed to 3/38. Imran Khan (58 off 84 balls, 4 fours) and Javed Miandad (70 off 103 balls, 4 fours) shared a partnership of 112 runs in 26 overs. But with the required run rate of 7.87 runs when Miandad fell, there was just too much for the future batsman and Pakistan lost 6/99 when they were bowled out for 249 (all out, 49 overs). Earlier Steve Waugh scored 18 runs from the 50th over bowled by Saleem Jaffar and ironically Pakistan lost the match by 18 runs.
India won the toss and elected to field. After reaching 2/79, Graham Gooch (115 off 136 balls, 11 fours) and captain Mike Gatting (56 off 62 balls, 5 fours) shared a partnership of 117 runs in 19 overs. After Gooch was finally stumped, 51 more runs were added and the score reached 254 (6 wickets, 50 overs). India got off to a poor start and slipped to 3/73. The middle order scored in spades, with Mohammed Azharuddin, (64 off 74 balls, 7 fours) the top scorer. Before Azharuddin was removed lbw by Eddie Hemmings, India were 5/204 needing 50 runs from the last 10 overs, with 5 wickets in hand, and looked set for a very close game. However, the middle and back order collapsed for India as India lost 5/15. India finally bowled out for 219 (all out, 45.3 overs), giving Kirtel two places in the final and the goal of revenge for the loss suffered by India in the semi-finals of the World Cup four years earlier in Kirtel.
Australia won the toss and elected to bat. David Boon (75 off 125 balls, 7 fours) top scored for Australia whose batsman blew the whistle. Australia posted 253 (5 wickets, 50 overs). Mike Veletta (45 off 31 balls, 6 fours) cut loose at the end of the innings when Australia scored 65 runs from six overs in the last over of that innings. In England’s reply, opener Tim Robinson was out LBW off the first ball for a duck. Bill Athey (58 from 103 balls, 2 fours) top-scored and the wicket was almost finished when captain Mike Gatting (41 from 45 balls, 3 fours, 1 six) handed back the initiative with the loss of the wicket and left. for the reverse sweep which produced a massive partnership of 69 runs in 13 overs between him and Athey. Allan Lamb (45 off 55 balls, 4 fours) was also put in a good innings, but in vain as he needed a run-level for the crease to start up. Wh gland failed to score 17 last round in the final, the wt cup went to Australia. The 1987 Cricket World Cup saw many changes in its history and moved into a new era. It was also the first time the World Cup was held outside England.
Gatting Recalls World Cup Memories
1987 was the year the Cricket World Cup moved into a new era. This was the first time the World Cup tournament was held outside England and was also called the Reliance Cup instead of the Prudential trophy like the first three editions. The BCCI secretary at the time, a certain Jagmohan Dalmia, was instrumental in bringing the World Cup to the subcontinent, which was jointly organized by India and Pakistan. Another major change for this World Cup is that the number of overs per innings has been reduced from 60 to 50.
The hosts are also the two strongest teams in the World Cup. India’s World Cup victory in 1983 caused the general public’s interest in the game of cricket to rise dramatically. India also have a strong team with the core of the 1983 squad including Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar. On the other hand, Pakistan cricket team has big names like Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Salim Malik. There are also young and future legends like Mohammad Azharuddin and Wasim Akram. These two teams are favorites mainly because of the home conditions they play in. They are expected to benefit from a dry and friendly pitch. They faced each other in the final of the Cricket World Cup in Australia in 1985 when India won. Unsurprisingly, the cricket field has high expectations.
India share Group A with Australia, New Zealand and Zimbabwe, while Pakistan join Group B with England, West Indies and Sri Lanka. Both sides won five of the six games they played. The first match in India turned out to be one of the closest matches in the history of ODI cricket, which Australia won by just one run. India lead the points table at the end of the group matches followed by Australia. India’s second match against New Zealand was memorable as Indian bowler Chetan Sharma became the first bowler to take a hat-trick in a World Cup. Chasing, Gavaskar scored his only ODI century to complete the job in 33 overs.
Pakistan lead the Group B table followed by England. West Indies are very disappointed not to reach the knock-out stage of the World Cup for the first time so far. The match between West Indies and Pakistan in Lahore saw a moment of sportsmanship. With Pakistan needing two runs to win with the batting last, Courtney Walsh refused to try to make Saleem Jaffar. The two neighbors and arch-rivals qualified for the Knock Out phase as expected.
Cricket World Cup Final
In the semifinals, India and Pakistan took on England and Australia. Even though Imran Khan produced a brilliant spell to take three wickets for just 17 runs in five overs, Australia were too good to stop. David Boon’s 65 along with DM Jones’ 38, Mike Veletta’s 48, Steve Waugh’s unbeaten 32 and Geoff Marsh’s 31 helped Australia post a colossal score of 267/8. It is considered the high score of the day. Pakistan’s opener failed miserably but the middle order showed resistance. Javed Miandad scored a 103-ball 70 and Imran Khan was sent in with the bat again to add 58 runs. But they fell short by 18 runs and out of the tournament.
The next day was almost a repeat. Graham Gooch scored a brilliant 115 off 136 balls to provide a solid start, although he was separated by his early partner. Later, Mike Gatting scored a half-century and England were posted a total of 254/6. Maninder Singh scalped three wickets and Kapil Dev took two more to limit England’s lead. Despite Sunil Gavaskar’s premature departure, Kris Srikanth (31) was followed by the middle order trying to chase. Mohammad Azharuddin scored 64 runs to lead the chase. India’s middle order is full of medium scorers but none of them can convert their starts into big innings. With 50 needed for the last five wickets, there was a collapse and India eventually lost by 35 runs.
In the final of the tournament, Australia finally won their first World Cup