1979 Cricket World Cup

A world in dispute

The second World Cup arrived at an awkward moment for cricket. For two years the game had been split by World Series Cricket, the breakaway competition that the Australian television owner Kerry Packer set up after the established boards refused to sell him broadcast rights. Many of the best players in the world had signed for Packer, and for two seasons they played floodlit matches in coloured clothing while their national sides fielded whoever was left. A peace deal was agreed in the spring of 1979, weeks before the tournament, and the players came back just in time.

The Prudential Cup was staged almost exactly as before: England again, eight teams again, 60 overs, whites and a red ball, and two groups of four feeding two semi-finals and a final at Lord's. After the success of 1975 the ICC had agreed to hold the event every four years, which it has done, with one exception, ever since.

The first qualifiers

The one real change was how the two places outside the Test nations were filled. In 1975 they had been given; in 1979 they were earned, at the first ICC Trophy, played in the English Midlands weeks before the World Cup. Sri Lanka won it, beating Denmark in the semi-finals, and Canada were runners-up after beating Bermuda. Both went into the main tournament, and between them they showed what the gap looked like. Canada were bowled out for 45 by England at Old Trafford, with Chris Old taking four wickets for eight runs; Sri Lanka had a different fortnight altogether.

Sri Lanka's afternoon

Their first match, against New Zealand, was lost comfortably, and the second, against West Indies at The Oval, was washed out over three days without a ball being bowled. It is the only match of the tournament with no scorecard, and it is listed below with the other gaps. The third, against India at Old Trafford, became the story of the group. Sri Lanka made 238 for five and bowled India out for 191 to win by 47 runs. It was the first time a side without Test status had beaten a Test nation at a World Cup, and it helped make the case that brought Sri Lanka Test status three years later. India, who had lost to West Indies and New Zealand as well, went home without a win for the second tournament running.

The rest of the groups went broadly to form. England won all three of their games, including a comfortable win over Australia, whose side was still missing most of its Packer players. Pakistan beat Australia by 89 runs to take the second place in Group A. West Indies won Group B, and New Zealand edged into the semi-finals by beating Sri Lanka and India.

Two semi-finals

England's semi-final against New Zealand at Old Trafford was the closest match of the tournament. Mike Brearley made 53 and Graham Gooch 71, and England reached 221 for eight. John Wright answered with 69 from 137 balls, but New Zealand never found the acceleration they needed and finished nine runs short.

At The Oval, West Indies made 293 for six against Pakistan after Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes put on 132 for the first wicket. For a while Pakistan looked capable of chasing it. Majid Khan and Zaheer Abbas added 166 for the second wicket in 36 overs, and at 176 for one the match was genuinely open. Then Colin Croft took three quick wickets, Viv Richards chipped in with three of his own, and Pakistan lost nine wickets for 74 to lose by 43 runs.

Ninety-nine for four

The final on 23 June drew a full house at Lord's. Brearley chose to bowl, and for a couple of hours the decision looked right. Greenidge, Haynes, Alvin Kallicharran and Clive Lloyd were all out by the time West Indies reached 99. But Brearley had picked only four specialist bowlers, and twelve overs still had to come from the part-time bowling of Geoffrey Boycott, Gooch and Wayne Larkins.

Viv Richards and Collis King then turned the match around. King, in at number six, hit 86 from 66 balls with ten fours and three sixes, pulling and driving the part-timers out of the attack, and the two put on 139 for the fifth wicket. Richards was still there at the end, on 138 not out from 157 balls, finishing it by walking across his stumps and flicking the last ball of the innings, from Mike Hendrick, over square leg for six. West Indies made 286 for nine.

Eight wickets for eleven

England's openers, Brearley and Geoffrey Boycott, put on 129 for the first wicket, but they took 38 overs to do it. By the time they were separated England needed more than seven an over against the best fast bowling attack in the world, with 22 overs left. Gooch hit out for 32, and at 183 for two a remarkable finish was still conceivable.

It ended within a few overs. Joel Garner, six feet eight inches tall and bowling yorkers from an unusual height, took five wickets for four runs in eleven balls. Colin Croft took three more. England lost their last eight wickets for 11 runs and were all out for 194 in the 52nd over, beaten by 92 runs. Richards was named player of the match, and Lloyd lifted the trophy for the second time.

The best side in the world

The 1979 tournament was lower-scoring than the first. Only two hundreds were made in fourteen matches, both by West Indians, and Greenidge finished as the leading run-scorer with 253, while England's Mike Hendrick led the wicket-takers with ten. Around 132,000 people watched.

What stayed with everyone was the West Indies. They had not lost a World Cup match in two tournaments, and they had won the final from 99 for four with batting that looked like it came from a later decade. Their fast bowlers would dominate Test cricket for the next fifteen years. It seemed impossible that anyone would take the trophy from them, which is what made the 1983 World Cup such a shock.