Background : India had participated in 1975, first Prudential World cup and won 1 match out of 3 it played in the tournament under the captaincy of Srinivas Venkataraghavan. The only match India could succeed was against East Africa when India chasing a target of 120 runs routed out the opponent by 10 wickets with the help of half centuries made by Sunil Gavaskar, 65runs and Farokh Engineer, 54runs While the West Indies team had won the 1975 World Cup maiden title by defeating Australia by a margin of 17 runs at Lords Cricket ground on June 21 1975. In final, West Indies's success was driven by Captain CH Lloyd who scored 102 runs off 82 balls and took his country to become the Champion of World Cricket. The second Prudential world cup 1979 was a deterring setback for Indian team when it received defeats in all the 3 matches it played . Let's know these matches at a glance :
First Match :June 9, Birmingham. It was the inaugural match of 1979 Prudential world cup, between India and the defending Champion. The Indian side was being led by S.Venkataraghvan while the West Indies were playing under the unparalleled leadership of CH Lloyd, the hero of previous world cup. West Indies won the toss and elected to field first. The two opening batsmen Gavaskar and AD Gaekwad came into the crease to face the dreadful bowling line up of West Indies laced with world class bowlers like MA Holding, AME Roberts and J Garner and as expected the start for India was miserable when the 1st wicket of Sunil Gavaskar fell at a score of 10 runs and after the departure of Gavaskar Dilip Vengsarkar took the charge but failed completely and contributed just 8 runs, the situation became worst when top 5 batsmen were sent back to pavilion at a score of 55 runs for India. The only batsman who showed a good temperament and gumption to face West Indian attacks was Gundappa Rangnath Vishwanath and made the most needed 75 runs in 134 balls with 7 boundaries but the fall of wickets from the other side restricted India to a meager total of 190 runs in 53.1 overs. A fantastic bowling by MA Holding who took 4/33 in 12 overs had costed India so heavily that they were all out in 53.1 overs and even could not play the whole inning of 60 overs. The responsibility of Indian bowling was on the shoulders of Bishan Singh Vedi, Kapil Dev , the Indian captain S.Venkataraghvan but very little was left for them in the match and no miracle was also witnessed, meanwhile eyeing at a comfortable victory, West Indies with the help of a devasting hundred by opening batsman CG Greenidge who scored 106 runs in 173 balls grilled the success in 51.3 overs. The only successful bowler from India was Kapil Dev who took the wicket of DL Haynes (47 runs) the opening partner of Greenidge. The Indian wicket keeper Sudhir Khanna made his international ODI debut in this match but ended up with a perplexed batting and India had lost the entry match making the road ahead very typical in the world cup.
Second Match: June 13, 1979 Leeds Cricket Ground . The 6th match of World Cup 79 , between India and New Zeland. New Zealand won the toss and chose to ball first, their decision proved to be a clever one when India lost their 3 wickets for just 53 runs. Sunil Gavaskar and AD Gaekwad opened for India, Gavaskar struggling in the middle anyhow managed to score a dilatory half century of 55 in 144 balls which also led to a havoc criticism of Gavaskar for playing almost 25 overs himself and adding a little runs on the board . Most of the cricketers had fueled the fire saying 'the show of Gavaskar was for himself only and not for the team'.BP Patel before being bowled by GB Troup played a consoling inning of 38 runs, KD Ghavri the medium pacer attempted a successful knock of 20 while all rounder Kapil Dev contributed a fast 25 in 24 balls . Most interestingly 4 Indian batsmen could get an individual score of 1 run each.The two bowlers BL Cairns and BJ Meckechine took 3 wickets each and disrupted the backbone of Indian batting. The tumultuous batting performance ceased India to hoard only 182 in 55.5 overs with an all out and setting a target of 183 for stable New Zealand. In reply to India's total the former Indian coach and then Opening batsman of New Zealand John Wright (48 runs) and his companion on the crease BA Edgar (84 runs) got a brisk and safe start by adding 100 runs for the 1st wicket partnership. This partnership took the match away from the hands of Indians making the journey of Indian team impossible to be mended in the world cup. After this brutal defeat by 9 wickets the hope to lift the world cup was also washed out.
Third Match : 16th June , Manchester, between India and Srilanka. After two consecutive defeats only formalities were left for Indian team but the quorum of registering a Victory was still haunting the Indian Cricket fans and in a hope to end the journey with a consolation prize India took on Srilanka in the 9th match of the Prudential World Cup 1979. For the First time the Indian skipper won a toss in this world cup and invited Srlianka to bat first which turned out to be an unfortunate decision after the end of play. Srlianka with 3 half centuries from LR Mendis who accompanied to a terrific 64 off 57 balls with 3 lofty sixes, RL Dias converting his steady inning into a well organized 50 and the opening batsman SR Weittimuny who played an aggressive 67 knock Srilanka scored 238/5 in 60 overs. The Indian all rounders Kapil Dev and Mohinder Amarnath shared 4 wickets together, Amarnath claiming 3 and Kapil Dev taking 1. India for the 1st time in this world cup started well and made a robust partnership of 60 runs for the opening wicket . Gavaskar made 26, AD Gaekwad 33, Dilip Vengsarkar 36 and Gundappa Vishwanath 26 before he was run out of a direct hit. But the new comers like ARM Opatha and DS de Silva blowed down the Indian batsmen by demolishing 6 wickets together and 3 for each other. The Indians could not struggle on the pitch which was no more good for batting and in a hurry to return India bag and baggage they chose to relinquish rather than fighting for an uncertain win and were all out for 191 runs in 54.1 overs. Duleep Mendis for his show from bat as well as ball was rewarded with Player of the match. With three defeats in a row India was out of the tournament without a single win, a record still alive and the history that reminds the Monster of World Cup 1979.
The Final of World Cup was played at Lord's Cricket ground on June 23 1979 between the Defending Champion West Indies and the host England. Batting first West Indies with the help of a fabulous century by Sir Viv Richrds who hit a massive 138 runs off 157 balls hanged 286/9 as scoreboard which was quite difficult for England to achieve and the whole English team was all out at 194 runs. West Indies recaptured the World Cup title once again becoming Champion of Champions in world cricket.
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