The 1975 Cricket World Cup Final was a

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

match played at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 21 June 1975 to determine the winner of the

1975 Cricket World Cup The 1975 Cricket World Cup (officially called the Prudential Cup '75) was the inaugural men's Cricket World Cup, and the first major tournament in the history of One Day International (ODI) cricket. Organised by the International Cricket Confer ...

was played in

on 21 June. It was the second time that the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

had met in the tournament after playing against each other in the group stage. The West Indies won the match by 17 runs to claim their first title.

Road to the final

West Indies

qualified for the knockouts with a first-place finish in

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...

. The team won all three of their matches against

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. Then in the semi final against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, the opposition opened brilliantly, but when

Glenn Turner Glenn Maitland Turner (born 26 May 1947) played cricket for New Zealand and was one of the country's best and most prolific batsmen. He is the current head of the New Zealand Cricket selection panel. Early life Glenn Turner was born in Dune ...

fell, the wickets tumbled the

scored the required 158 to reach the final.

Australia

made it through to the knockouts in second place with their only loss being against the

. But they did defeat

and

to take on England in the semi final.

Gary Gilmour Gary John Gilmour (26 June 1951 – 10 June 2014) was an Australian cricketer who played in 15 Tests and 5 One Day Internationals (ODIs) between 1973 and 1977. At the peak of his career, Gilmour combined "talented hitting" with "penetrative ...

took six wickets in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

innings to help them through to the final.

Final

Summary

The first Cricket World Cup final was played on 21 June (

Midsummer Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer usually held at a date around the summer solstice. It has pagan pre-Christian roots in Europe. The undivided Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian mart ...

of that year), a sunny day, in front of a capacity crowd of 26,765. Australia won the toss and invited the West Indies to bat, hoping to make use of ideal bowling conditions. The first moment of drama came when opener

Roy Fredericks Roy Clifton Fredericks (11 November 1942 – 5 September 2000) was a West Indian cricketer who played Test cricket from 1968 to 1977. He was an opening batsman for the West Indies in both Test cricket and one day cricket, and made 4334 Test run ...

was dismissed

hit wicket Hit wicket is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. This method of dismissal is governed by Law 35 of the Laws of Cricket. The striker is out "hit wicket" if, after the bowler has entered his delivery stride and while the ball is in pla ...

; he hooked a bouncer from

Dennis Lillee Dennis Keith Lillee, (born 18 July 1949) is Australian retired cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation".

for six, but in his follow-through lost his balance and knocked the bails off the stumps. Australia were on top at 50/3 when West Indian captain

Clive Lloyd Sir Clive Hubert Lloyd (born 31 August 1944) is a Guyanese-British former cricketer who played for the West Indies cricket team. As a boy he went to Chatham High School in Georgetown. At the age of 14 he was captain of his school cricket team ...

came to the crease in partnership with veteran

Rohan Kanhai Rohan Babulal Kanhai (born 26 December 1935) is a Guyanese former cricketer of Tamil Indo-Guyanese origin , who represented the West Indies in 79 Test matches. He is widely considered to be one of the best batsmen of the 1960s. Kanhai featur ...

. The pair swung the match in the West Indies' favour by putting on 149 for the fourth wicket. Kanhai played the anchor role – not scoring for 11 overs – while Lloyd took on the Australian bowling attack, surviving a dropped catch on 26 to score a memorable century off 82 balls with 12 fours and 2 sixes and was dismissed shortly afterwards for 102. Kanhai, in what would be his farewell from international cricket, scored an invaluable 55, and solid contributions from

Keith Boyce Keith David Boyce (11 October 1943 – 11 October 1996) was a cricketer who played 21 Tests and 8 One Day Internationals for the West Indies between 1971 and 1976. He died from the effects of chronic cirrhosis of the liver, while sitting in a cha ...

and

Bernard Julien Bernard Denis Julien (born 13 March 1950) is a Trinidad and Tobago cricketer who played as an allrounder. As a right handed batsman who bowled left arm pace and spin, Julien played in 24 Tests and 12 One Day Internationals for the West Indies. H ...

helped the West Indies close their innings at 291/8. Burly left-arm seamer

was the pick of the Australian bowlers with 5/48, backing up his amazing semi-final performance. The Australian run chase began steadily enough; at the 20-over mark, the Aussies were at 80/1 with Alan Turner and captain

Ian Chappell Ian Michael Chappell (born 26 September 1943) is a former cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. He captained Australia between 1971 and 1975 before taking a central role in the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation. Born ...

taking advantage of an easy pitch and fast outfield. Then

Viv Richards Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards (born 7 March 1952) is an Antiguan retired cricketer who represented the West Indies cricket team between 1974 and 1991. Batting generally at number three in a dominant West Indies side, Richards is widely ...

, who had failed with the bat, left his mark on the match with the next three run-outs. First he swooped in and dismissed Turner with a direct hit from close range, then

Greg Chappell Gregory Stephen Chappell (born 7 August 1948) is a former cricketer who represented Australia at international level in both Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODI). The second of three brothers to play Test cricket, Chappell was the pre-eminen ...

was also out with a direct hit after a slight misfield.

Doug Walters Kevin Douglas Walters (born 21 December 1945) is a former Australian cricketer. He was known as an attacking batsman, a useful part-time bowler, and also as a typical ocker. In 2011, he was inducted into the Cricket Hall of Fame by the CA. ...

came in and helped his captain steady the ship. Australia were at 162/3 with 21 overs remaining when Chappell, facing his opposing captain, pushed a ball to the left of mid-wicket and started off for a run. He hesitated initially when he saw Richards approaching, but started off again after Richards fumbled the ball, only to be caught short of the crease by Richards' lightning recovery and return to Lloyd at the bowler's end. In each situation, the batsmen probably would have made the run had they not hesitated. When Lillee joined

Jeff Thomson Jeffrey Robert Thomson (born 16 August 1950) is a former Australian cricketer. Known as "Thommo", he is one of the fastest bowlers in the history of cricket; he bowled a delivery with a speed of 160.6 km/h against the West Indies in Perth ...

as last man in, Australia required 59 runs to win off seven overs. The duo kept the game alive, putting on an unlikely last-wicket stand. With three overs remaining, the game reached an unlikely climax when Lillee hit a no-ball to Fredericks at extra cover off

Vanburn Holder Vanburn Alonzo Holder (born 10 October 1945) is a Barbadian former first-class cricketer who played in 40 Test matches and 12 One Day Internationals for the West Indies cricket team between 1969 and 1979. A fast-medium bowler, he bowled along ...

, and the crowd rushed onto the field oblivious to the umpire's call. Amid the chaos, Fredericks attempted a run-out but missed and the ball disappeared into the crowd. Lillee and Thomson kept running between the wickets until the crowd were dispersed. When play was resumed, the umpires decided to give Australia two runs. After protest from Thomson, they awarded three runs.

Match details

References

External links

Cricket World Cup 1975
from

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