The 1987 Cricket World Cup Final (known as the Reliance Cricket World Cup Final for sponsorship reasons) was a One Day International (ODI)

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 str ...

match played at

Eden Gardens The Eden Gardens is a cricket ground in Kolkata, India. Established in 1864, it is the oldest and second-largest cricket stadium in India and third-largest in the world. The stadium currently has a capacity of 66,000. Eden Gardens is often re ...

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, India, on 8 November 1987 to determine the winner of the

1987 Cricket World Cup The 1987 Cricket World Cup (officially known as the Reliance Cup 1987 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 such tournament to be held outside ...

. It was contested by Australia and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, both of whom had yet to win the trophy. Being the first time the tournament had been hosted outside of England, it was also the first time the final had been hosted at a venue other than Lord's.Attendance of the match 95,342 spectators.

Background

Australia went into the 1987 World Cup having lost a home Ashes series and their five previous ODI matches leading up to the tournament. According to

Steve Waugh Stephen Rodger Waugh (born 2 June 1965) is an Australian former international cricketer and twin brother of cricketer Mark Waugh. A right-handed batsman, he was also a medium-pace bowler. As Australian captain from 1997 to 2004, he led Austral ...

, who was competing in his first World Cup and would become one of the players of the tournament, they were considered both at home and abroad as "rank outsiders". Under coach Bob Simpson, the Australians undertook extra fielding sessions upon arriving in India, and an alcohol ban between games was also imposed. While these somewhat revolutionary measures were ridiculed by other teams, Simpson's approach would pay off as Australia progressed through the tournament.
Placed in Group A along with

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

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 ...

and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

, the Australians finished second in the group behind India on run rate, which meant they would face

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

, who topped Group B, in the semi-final. Australia's success had been built on various factors: the opening pair of

David Boon David Clarence Boon (born 29 December 1960) is an Australian cricket match referee, former cricket commentator and international cricketer whose international playing career spanned the years 1984–1996. A right-handed batsman and a very oc ...

and

Geoff Marsh Geoffrey Robert Marsh (born 31 December 1958) is a former Australian cricketer, coach and selector. He played 50 Test matches and 117 One Day Internationals for Australia as an opening batsman. As the coach of Australia he was in charge w ...

(who ended the tournament as the second- and third-highest individual run-scorers respectively) consistently gave the Australian innings a firm foundation on which to build substantial scores; opening bowler

Craig McDermott Craig John McDermott (born 14 April 1965) is a former Australian cricketer. Between 1984 and 1996 he played 71 Tests for Australia, taking 291 wickets. Following the end of his playing career, he was the bowling coach for the Australian team fo ...

(who ended the tournament as the leading wicket-taker with 18) excelled in conditions traditionally unfavourable to pace bowlers; and all-rounders

Simon O'Donnell Simon Patrick O'Donnell (born 26 January 1963) is an Australian former cricketer, VFL footballer, and horse racing and cricket commentator. He is currently a horse breeder and enabler. He is a former record holder for the fastest One Day Int ...

and Steve Waugh chipped in at critical moments with bat and ball.
All these factors came to the fore when Australia upset the Pakistanis at the

Gaddafi Stadium Gaddafi Stadium ( ur, , translit=Qaẕẕāfī Isṭeḍiyam), previously known as Lahore Stadium is a cricket stadium in Lahore, Pakistan and the home ground of Lahore Qalandars. It is owned by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). With a capa ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

; Batting first, Marsh and Boon put on 73 for the first wicket as the Australians finished with 267 for eight off their 50 overs, with Waugh scoring 18 runs off the final over. In reply, Pakistan fell to 38 for three before

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

and

Javed Miandad Mohammad Javed Miandad PP SI (Urdu: ; born 12 June 1957), popularly known as Javed Miandad (Urdu: ), is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer known for his unconventional style of captaincy and batting. ESPNcricinfo desc ...

set about resurrecting the innings. But after they were removed, McDermott proceeded to clean up the tail and send Australia into its first World Cup final since

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

. In Group B along with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and

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 Greate ...

, England finished second behind Pakistan with wins over West Indies (considered the best cricket team in the world at the time) and Sri Lanka, and would face India in semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

. After being sent in by the home side, England posted 254 for six from its 50 overs, led by 115 from

Graham Gooch Graham Alan Gooch, (born 23 July 1953) is a former English first-class cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning from 1973 until 2000, h ...

(who ended the tournament as the leading run-scorer) and 56 from captain

Mike Gatting Michael William Gatting (born 6 June 1957) is an English former cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Middlesex (1975–1998; captain 1983–1997) and for England from 1977 to 1995, captaining the national side in twenty-three Test ma ...

. India's innings started badly when home-town hero

Sunil Gavaskar Sunil Manohar Gavaskar (Marathi pronunciation: uniːl ɡaːʋəskəɾ ; born 10 July 1949), is an Indian cricket commentator and former cricketer who represented India and Bombay from 1971 to 1987. Gavaskar is acknowledged as one of the grea ...

was bowled by

Philip DeFreitas Phillip Anthony Jason "Daffy" DeFreitas (born 18 February 1966) is an English former cricketer. He played county cricket for Leicestershire, Lancashire and Derbyshire, as well as appearing in 44 Test matches and 103 ODIs. Cricket writer Colin ...

for 4. The middle order, led by

Mohammad Azharuddin Mohammad Azharuddin (born 8 February 1963) is an Indian politician and a former international cricketer and former captain of India national cricket team. He is the working president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee and was the mem ...

, revived the home crowd's hopes, but after off-spinner Eddie Hemmings struck with four wickets, the chase collapsed, with the last five wickets falling for only 15 runs. Like Australia, England had qualified for its second shot at glory, having previously lost to West Indies in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

Details

8 November in Calcutta was a fine and hot day, but with less humidity than Bombay, where the England–India semi-final had been staged. Preparation of the Eden Gardens wicket had been overseen by the renowned Adelaide Oval curator Les Burdett, who had been invited by the Bengal Cricket Association.

Allan Border Allan Robert Border (born 27 July 1955) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer. A batsman, Border was for many years the captain of the Australian team. His playing nickname was "A.B.". He played 156 Test ma ...

won the toss and chose to bat. As they had done for much of the tournament, openers

and

gave Australia a fantastic start, benefiting from the unusually wayward and undisciplined bowling of

and

Gladstone Small Gladstone Cleophas Small (born 18 October 1961) is an English former cricketer, who played in 17 Test matches and 53 One Day Internationals (ODIs) for the England cricket team. Small was primarily a pace bowler, he was selected for the 1986� ...

(who conceded six no-balls) to post 52 off the first ten overs. Waugh joined Veletta for the final over of the innings, to be bowled by DeFreitas. The pair combined to score 11 runs off it to push Australia's score to 253, becoming the first team all tournament to score more than 250 against England. The Australians took to the field with some confidence that their total was defendable; no team batting second at this World Cup had successfully chased 254. England's innings started badly when McDermott trapped Tim Robinson in front for a golden duck midway through the first over. Bill Athey (58 from 103 balls, 2 fours) top-scored, and England were almost on target, when captain

(41 from 45 balls, 3 fours, 1 six) handed back the initiative with the loss of his wicket to an attempted

reverse sweep In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...

off the occasional off-spin bowling of

, which ended a growing partnership of 69 runs in 13 overs between him and Athey.

Allan Lamb Allan Joseph Lamb (born 20 June 1954) is a South African-born former English cricketer, who played for the first-class teams of Western Province and Northamptonshire. Making his Test debut in 1982, he was a fixture in the Test and One-Day Intern ...

(45 from 55 balls, 4 fours) also posted a great innings, but it was in vain as the required run-rate for England began to rise. When England failed to score the last 17 runs from the final over, the cup went to Australia.

Match details

;1st innings Fall of wickets: 1/75 (Marsh, 18 ov), 2/151 (Jones), 3/166 (McDermott), 4/168 (Boon), 5/241 (Border) ;2nd innings Fall of wickets: 1/1 (Robinson, 0.4 ov), 2/66 (Gooch), 3/135 (Gatting, 31.1 ov), 4/170 (Athey), 5/188 (Downton), 6/218 (Emburey), 7/220 (Lamb), 8/235 (DeFreitas, 49 ov)

External links

*
Cricket World Cup 1987
from Cricinfo

References

{{Cricket World Cup Final, 1987 Cricket World Cup Cricket World Cup Final, 1987

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 str ...

Cricket World Cup Finals Cricket in Kolkata es:Copa mundial de críquet de 1987 fr:Coupe du monde de cricket de 1987 it:Coppa del Mondo di cricket 1987 mr:क्रिकेट विश्वचषक, १९८७ nl:Wereldkampioenschap cricket 1987 pt:Copa do Mundo de Críquete de 1987

Background

Details

Match details

See also

External links

Further reading

References