Prudential World Cup 1975 : Rampaging West Indies Becomes First World Champions

The first major ODI tournament was staged in 1975 in the form of World Cup. Since Prudential Assurance Company sponsored the tournament the tournament was named as Prudential World Cup.  Till 1983 the tournament continued under the same name.

Eight nations participated in the inaugural World Cup. Six test playing nations of that time Australia, England, Pakistan, India, New Zealand and West Indies and two leading Associate Members Sri Lanka and East Africa. They  were divided into two groups.  Group A consisted of  England, New Zealand,  India and East Africa whereas West Indies, Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were placed in Group B. Those four teams played each other and the two top teams from each group were to make it to the semi finals. Group A winner were to take on Group B runners up in one semi finals whereas Group A runners up were to take on Group B winners in the other semi finals with the two semi final winners were to clash in the finals.

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India played England in the inaugural  match on June 7, 1975.   The match is remembered for Dennis Amiss becoming the first batter to score a World Cup century. Mohinder Amarnath was the first wicket taker in the World Cup. Sunil Gavaskar for his infamous knock of undefeated 36 facing 174 balls with just a solitary boundary to his credit.

The match between West Indies and Pakistan was the match of the competition. Chasing 267 from their allotted  60 overs, West Indies were tottering at 203/9 .  Deryck Murray and Andy Roberts believed the match is not over till the last ball is delivered.  The duo decided to take it easy and pulled up a scintillating win with two balls to spare.

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England were to play Australia in the first semi finals whereas New Zealand is to clash  with the West Indies in the other semis.  In the semi finals Australia brought in Gary Gilmour in place of Ashley Mallett and this change proved to be crucial as Gilmour produced his dream spell of 6 wickets for 14 runs and  remained undefeated  on 28 of 28 deliveries that saw Australia squeeze to the finals. In the other semi finals West Indies had an easy 5 wicket win over the Kiwis.

In the Grand Finale West Indies took on Australia. Gary Gilmour again wrecked havoc with figures of 5/48. Thanks to a captain’s knock of 102 by Clive Lloyd and a fine fielding by Vivian Richards, the West Indies emerged the first World champions