The Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket was part of the celebrations commemorating the 150th anniversary of

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

settlement in the Australian state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. It 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 ...

(ODI) tournament held in Australia from 17 February to 10 March 1985.

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 ...

defeated

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 ...

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

by 8 wickets. All of the then seven

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

playing teams participated with matches played at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...

and the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and as ...

. The tournament saw the first matches played under lights at the

. India were the reigning

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

holders, having defeated

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 ...

in the 1983 Cricket World Cup Final, but the bookmakers installed West Indies as favourites. India were ultimately undefeated at the tournament, with

Ravi Shastri Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri (born 27 May 1962) is the former head coach of the India national cricket team, a cricket commentator and former captain of Indian Cricket Team. As a player, he played for the India national cricket team between 19 ...

named as the player of the tournament.

Tournament format

Each team was required to name a 14-player squad for the tournament. Matches were played with coloured clothing, white balls, fielding restrictions and innings limited to 50 overs. The seven teams were split into two qualifying groups. Each played a round-robin with two points awarded for a win and one point for a draw or tie. Teams on equal points were separated by run rate. Cross-over semi finals were then played with the winner from each group playing the runner-up from the other group. The losers played in the Plate Winners Final while the winners contested the Final.

Playing squads

Australia

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 ...

(captain),

Terry Alderman Terence Michael Alderman (born 12 June 1956) is a former Australia cricket team, Australian international cricketer who played primarily as a right-arm fast-medium bowler. He began his first-class cricket career in 1974 with Western Australia i ...

Peter Faulkner Peter Ian Faulkner (born 18 April 1960) is an Australian former first-class cricketer who played for Tasmania. An allrounder, he took over 100 wickets and made over 2000 runs in his first-class career. He never played for Australia although he ...

Rodney Hogg Rodney Malcolm Hogg (born 5 March 1951) is a former Victorian, South Australian and Australian cricketer. He was a fast bowler. Hogg played in 38 Test matches and 71 One Day Internationals between 1978 and 1985. In Tests he took 123 wickets ...

Kim Hughes Kimberley John Hughes (born 26 January 1954) is a former cricketer who played for Western Australia, Natal and Australia. He captained Australia in 28 Test matches between 1979 and 1984 before captaining a rebel Australian team in a tour of ...

, Dean Jones,

Robbie Kerr Robert "Robbie" Kerr (born 26 September 1979 in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire) is a British racing driver. In 2002, Kerr won the British Formula 3 championship. Career Early career In 2002 he became the British Formula Three Champion for A ...

, Geoff Lawson, Rod McCurdy,

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 ...

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 ...

Wayne B. Phillips Wayne Bentley Phillips (born 1 March 1958) is a former Australian cricketer who played in 27 Test matches and 48 One Day Internationals (ODIs) between 1982 and 1986 as a batsman and wicket-keeper. He played for South Australia between 1978 an ...

Kepler Wessels Kepler Christoffel Wessels (born 14 September 1957) is a South African-Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer who captained South Africa after playing 24 Tests for Australia. Since retiring he has been a lawn bowls competitor. He ...

, Graeme Wood.

England

David Gower David Ivon Gower (born 1 April 1957) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who was captain of the England cricket team during the 1980s. Described as one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of his era, Gower played 117 Te ...

(captain),

Jonathan Agnew Jonathan Philip Agnew, (born 4 April 1960) is an English cricket broadcaster and a former professional cricketer. He was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire, and educated at Uppingham School. He is nicknamed "Aggers", and, less commonly, "Spiro" � ...

Norman Cowans Norman George Cowans (born 17 April 1961) is a former cricketer who played in 19 Test matches and 23 One Day Internationals between 1982 and 1985 for the England cricket team. He played first-class cricket for Middlesex and Hampshire County ...

, Chris Cowdrey,

Paul Downton Paul Rupert Downton (born 4 April 1957) is the current Director of Cricket at Kent County Cricket Club. He had previously been the managing director of the England and Wales Cricket Board between February 2014 and April 2015. He is a former ...

Phil Edmonds Philippe-Henri Edmonds (born 8 March 1951) is a former cricketer who represented England at international level and Middlesex at county level. After retiring he became a successful, albeit controversial, corporate executive. Edmonds played mos ...

, Richard Ellison,

Neil Foster Neil Alan Foster (born 6 May 1962) is an English former professional cricketer, who played 29 Test matches and 48 One Day Internationals for England from 1983 to 1993. Domestically Foster played for Essex County Cricket Club from 1980 to 1993, ...

Graeme Fowler Graeme "Foxy" Fowler (born 20 April 1957) is an English former professional cricketer and cricket coach, who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England, and later for Durham. He appeared in 21 Test matches and 26 One Day Internationa ...

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 mat ...

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 ...

Vic Marks Victor James Marks (born 25 June 1955) is an English sports journalist and former professional cricketer. An off spin bowler, Marks played in six Test matches and thirty four One Day Internationals for England. His entire county cricket car ...

Martyn Moxon Martyn Douglas Moxon (born 4 May 1960) is a former English cricketer, who played in ten Test matches and eight One Day Internationals for England and for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1980 and 1997. In May 2007, Moxon was confirmed as ...

, Tim Robinson.

India

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 ...

(captain),

Mohinder Amarnath Mohinder Amarnath Bhardwaj (born 24 September 1950) is an Indian former cricketer,current cricket analyst and actor. He is the son of Lala Amarnath, (the first post-independence captain of India .) and Kailash Kumari. His brother Surinder Ama ...

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 Memb ...

Roger Binny Roger Michael Humphrey Binny (born 19 July 1955) is an Indian former international cricketer who is the 36th and incumbent president of Board of Control for Cricket in India. He was the president of Karnataka State Cricket Association from 2019 ...

Kapil Dev Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj (Pronunciation: əpiːl deːʋ born 6 January 1959) is an Indian former cricketer. He was a fast-medium bowler and a hard-hitting middle-order batsman, and was named by ''Wisden'' as the Indian Cricketer of the Centu ...

Madan Lal Madan Lal Udhouram Sharma (; born 20 March 1951) is a former Indian cricketer (1974–1987) and Indian national cricket coach. He was a member of the 1983 Cricket World Cup winning India squad. Playing career Madan Lal enjoyed outstanding all ...

Chetan Sharma Chetan Sharma (born 3 January 1966) is a former Indian cricketer and politician who played Tests and ODIs as a fast bowler for Indian cricket team. On 24 December 2020, he was elected as Chairman of the selection committee of Indian cricket tea ...

Laxman Sivaramakrishnan Laxman Sivaramakrishnan (born 31 December 1965), popularly known as "''Siva''" and LS, is a former Indian cricketer and current cricket commentator. During his playing career, he was a right arm leg-spinner. Sivaramakrishnan began his commenta ...

Krishnamachari Srikkanth Krishnamachari Srikkanth (born 21 December 1959), also known as Cheeka, is a former captain of the Indian cricket team and former chairman of the selection committee. He played a crucial part in India's team batting line up as opener espec ...

Dilip Vengsarkar Dilip Balwant Vengsarkar (born 6 April 1956) is a former Indian cricketer and a cricket administrator. He was known as one of the foremost exponents of the drive. Along with Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath, he was a key player in the Indi ...

Sadanand Viswanath Sadanand Viswanath ( kn, ಸದಾನಂದ ವಿಶ್ವನಾಥ್‌) (born 28 November 1962, Bangalore, Karnataka) is a former Indian cricketer who played in 3 Tests and 22 ODIs, from 1985 to 1988. Currently, he is a first class umpire a ...

Manoj Prabhakar Manoj Prabhakar (born 15 April 1963) is a former Indian cricketer and Coach, who recently coached Nepal National Cricket Team. He was a right-arm medium-pace bowler and a lower-order batsman, and has also opened the innings sometimes for the I ...

Ashok Malhotra Ashok Omprakash Malhotra (born 26 January 1957) is a former Indian cricketer who played in seven Test matches and 20 One Day Internationals from 1982 to 1986. He used to be the highest scorer in Ranji Trophy at one time. He was also said t ...

New Zealand

Geoff Howarth Geoffrey Philip Howarth (born 29 March 1951) is a former New Zealand cricketer and former captain, who remains the only New Zealand captain to have positive win–loss records in both Test cricket and ODI cricket. He was the third most success ...

(captain),

John Bracewell John Garry Bracewell (born 15 April 1958) is a former New Zealand cricketer who was most recently the coach of the Irish national team. He played 41 Test matches between 1980 and 1990, as well as 53 One Day Internationals. He was the second N ...

Lance Cairns Bernard Lance Cairns (born 10 October 1949) is a former all-rounder who played for the New Zealand cricket team, and is the father of New Zealand cricketer Chris Cairns. He was also known for the unusual bat he played with throughout much of h ...

Ewen Chatfield Ewen John Chatfield (born 3 July 1950) is a former New Zealand cricket team, New Zealand cricketer. A medium-pace bowler, though Chatfield played 43 Test cricket, Tests and 114 One Day Internationals for his country, he is also remembered for ...

Jeremy Coney Jeremy Vernon Coney (born 21 June 1952) is a former New Zealand cricketer and current cricket commentator. An all-rounder, between 1974 and 1987 he played 52 Test matches and 88 One Day Internationals (ODIs) for New Zealand, of which he was ca ...

Jeff Crowe Jeffrey John Crowe (born 14 September 1958) is a former New Zealand cricketer. He played Test and One Day International cricket for New Zealand from 1983 to 1990, and first-class cricket for South Australia and then Auckland. He has been an IC ...

Martin Crowe Martin David Crowe (22 September 1962 – 3 March 2016) was a New Zealand cricketer, Test and ODI captain as well as a commentator. He played for the New Zealand national cricket team between 1982 and 1995, and is regarded as one of the count ...

Richard Hadlee Sir Richard John Hadlee (born 3 July 1951) is a New Zealand former cricketer. Hadlee is widely regarded as one of the greatest all-rounders in cricket history, and amongst the very finest fast bowlers. Hadlee was appointed an MBE in the 1980 ...

, Paul McEwan, John Reid,

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to ...

Martin Snedden Martin Colin Snedden (born 23 November 1958) is a former New Zealand cricketer, who played 25 cricket tests, and 93 One Day Internationals, between 1980 and 1990. He was a member of New Zealand's seam bowling attack, alongside Richard Hadlee ...

, John Wright.

Pakistan

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 ...

(captain),

Anil Dalpat Anil Dalpat Sonavaria (born 20 September 1963) is the first Hindu ever to play Test cricket for Pakistan. After retirement from cricket, he migrated to Canada with his family where he started a business. Dalpat was a lower-order batsman and wi ...

Azeem Hafeez Raja Azeem Hafeez (born 29 July 1963) is a former Pakistani cricketer who played 18 Test matches between 1983 and 1985. A left-arm fast bowler, Hafeez was known for his birth defect: he has two fingers missing on his right (non-bowling) hand. Ha ...

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 ...

, Mohsin Khan,

Mudassar Nazar Mudassar Nazar (Urdu: مدثر نذر; born 6 April 1956) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer with a career in Test cricket for Pakistan and in league cricket in Pakistan and England. He was an opening batsman who played 76 test and ...

, Qasim Omar,

Rameez Raja Ramiz Hasan Raja ( ur, ; born 14 August 1962) is a Pakistani cricket administrator, commentator, YouTuber, and former cricketer who served as the 35th Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board between September 2021 and December 2022. As a pla ...

Rashid Khan Rashid Khan Arman ( ps, ; born 20 September 1998) is an Afghan international cricketer and a former captain of the national team. In franchise leagues, he plays for Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Adelaide Strikers in Austra ...

Saleem Malik Saleem Malik (Urdu: ) (born 16 April 1963), is a Pakistani former cricketer. He played for the Pakistan national cricket team between 1981/82 and 1999, at one stage captaining the side. He was a right-handed wristy middle order batsman who was ...

, Tahir Naqqash,

Wasim Akram Wasim Akram HI (; born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, and several criti ...

Wasim Raja Wasim Hasan Raja ( Punjabi, ur, ) (3 July 1952 – 23 August 2006) was a British Pakistani schoolteacher, match referee, cricket coach and cricketer who played in 57 Test matches and 54 One Day Internationals for the Pakistani national cric ...

Zaheer Abbas Syed Zaheer Abbas Kirmani PP, (in Punjabi and Urdu: سید ظہیر عباس کرمانی; born 24 July 1947), popularly known as Zaheer Abbas, is a former Pakistani cricketer. He is among few professional cricketers who used to wear spectacles ...

Sri Lanka

Duleep Mendis Deshamanya Louis Rohan Duleep Mendis (born 25 August 1952), known as Duleep Mendis, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and former captain of the team, who captained Sri Lanka to their first Test series victory in 1985. He was primarily a speciali ...

(captain),

Ashantha de Mel Ashantha Lakdasa Francis de Mel (born 9 May 1959) is a former Sri Lankan Test and ODI cricketer and selector for the national team. He bowled Sri Lanka's first ball in a Test match. He was one of few Sri Lanka bowlers in the 1980s above mediu ...

Somachandra de Silva Dandeniyage Somachandra de Silva also known as D. S. de Silva (born 11 June 1942) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer, who played Test and One Day International cricket in the 1970s and 1980s. He is the first ODI cap for Sri Lanka, second test cap ...

Roy Dias Roy Luke Dias (born 18 October 1952) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who played Tests and ODIs for Sri Lanka. An elegant and stylish right-handed batsman he played 20 Test matches and became the first Sri Lankan to hit 1,000 Test runs. He ...

, Vinothen John,

Uvais Karnain Shaul Hameed Uvais Karnain (born August 11, 1962) is a Sri Lankan former Sri Lankan cricketer who played 19 One Day Internationals (ODI) between 1984 and 1990. Making his ODI debut in 1984 against New Zealand, he took a five-wicket haul, thus ...

Ranjan Madugalle Deshabandu Ranjan Senerath Madugalle ( si, රන්ජන් මඩුගල්ල; born 22 April 1959) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who currently serves as the Chief of the panel of ICC match referees. He was educated at Trinity College, K ...

Arjuna Ranatunga Deshamanya Arjuna Ranatunga ( si, අර්ජුන රණතුංග; ta, அர்ஜூன ரணதுங்க; born 1 December 1963), is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and politician, who was the 1996 Cricket World Cup winning captain ...

Rumesh Ratnayake Rumesh Joseph Ratnayake (born 2 January 1964), is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who played in 23 Test matches and 70 One Day Internationals from 1982 to 1993. He is the current interim head coach of Sri Lanka national cricket team. Ratnayake w ...

Ravi Ratnayeke Joseph Ravindran Ratnayeke (born 2 May 1960), is a Sri Lankan businessman and former cricketer who was ODI captain of Sri Lanka national cricket team. Ratnayeke played 22 Tests and 78 ODIs from 1982 to 1990, his Test best bowling performance of ...

Amal Silva Sampathwaduge Amal Rohitha Silva (born 12 December 1960) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who played in nine Test matches and 20 One Day Internationals from 1983 to 1988. He was a left-handed wicketkeeper batsman and opened the batting for Sri ...

West Indies

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 ...

(captain),

Winston Davis Winston Walter Davis (born 18 September 1958) is a West Indian former cricketer. Domestic career Davis gradually established himself as a bowler, taking 5–42 against Trinidad and Tobago in the 1981/82 Shell Shield, and he was signed by Glamo ...

Jeff Dujon Peter Jeffrey Leroy Dujon (born 28 May 1956) is a retired West Indian cricketer and current commentator. He was the wicket-keeper for the West Indies cricket team of the 1980s, an athletic presence behind the stumps as well as a competent mid ...

Joel Garner Joel Garner (born 16 December 1952) is a former West Indian cricketer, and a member of the highly regarded late 1970s and early 1980s West Indies cricket teams. Garner is the highest ranked One Day International bowler according to the ICC bes ...

Larry Gomes Hilary Angelo Gomes (born 13 July 1953) is a Trinidad and Tobago and West Indies cricket team, West Indian former cricketer. Cricket career Gomes toured England with the West Indian youth team in 1970 and made his first-class cricket, first-cla ...

Roger Harper Roger Andrew Harper (born 17 March 1963) is a Guyanese former cricketer turned coach, who played both Test and One Day International cricket for the West Indies cricket team. His international career lasted 13 years, from 1983 to 1996, and he w ...

Desmond Haynes Desmond Leo Haynes (born 15 February 1956) is a former Barbadian cricketer and cricket coach who played for the West Indies cricket team between 1978 and 1994. Haynes favoured a more measured approach to batting and scored 7,487 runs in 116 Te ...

Michael Holding Michael Anthony Holding (born 16 February 1954) is a Jamaican former cricketer and commentator who played for the West Indies cricket team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pace bowlers in cricket history, he was nicknamed "Whispering Dea ...

Gus Logie Augustine Lawrence Logie (born 28 September 1960), commonly known as Gus Logie, is a former West Indies and Trinidad and Tobago cricketer and is currently an international cricket coach. Logie played in the dominant West Indies team of the 1980 ...

Malcolm Marshall Malcolm Denzil Marshall (18 April 1958 – 4 November 1999) was a Barbadian cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, Marshall is widely regarded as one of the greatest and one of the most accomplished fast bowlers of the modern era in Test cricket. ...

Thelston Payne Thelston Rodney O'Neale Payne (13 February 1957 – 10 May 2023) was a Barbadian cricketer who played one Test match and seven One Day Internationals for the West Indies. Test career Payne played first-class cricket from 1978–79 to 1989– ...

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 ...

Richie Richardson Sir Richard Benjamin Richardson, KCN (born 12 January 1962) is a former West Indies international cricketer and a former captain of the West Indian cricket team. He was a flamboyant batsman and superb player of fast bowling. He was famous for ...

Tournament results

Group A

The tournament began with

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 ...

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 ...

playing the first ever match under lights at the

, in front of a crowd of 82,494. Australia won the match by seven wickets, however neither of them would make the semi finals.

quickly showed that it was on track to repeat its

success with comfortable wins in each of its group matches, while

found a new hero in 18-year-old left-arm fast bowler

who took 5 for 21 against Australia. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Group B

Group B was slightly farcical with

being comfortably the number one team in world cricket at the time 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 ...

being comfortably at the bottom of the list of Test nations. The match between West Indies and

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 ...

was rained off which meant that whoever was more successful in beating up on Sri Lanka would top the group. While West Indies easily accounted for Sri Lanka on the scoreboard, fast bowler

forced both

and

to retire with searing bouncers. ---- ---- ---- ----

Knockout stage

Semi Finals

After the group stages, the expected outcome was that 1983 World Cup finalists India and West Indies would meet again in the final of the World Championship. India held up their end of the bargain by beating New Zealand in the first semi final, however Pakistan produced the one major upset of the tournament to beat West Indies.

1st Semifinal

----

2nd Semifinal

----

Consolation Final

The third place play-off in this tournament was known as the Plate Winners Final and

were awarded a plate for winning the match.

was nearing the end of his time as

captain and New Zealand's upcoming test and ODI tour to West Indies, which commenced later that month, would be his last series for the country.

began with a spell of 2 for 8 in 6 overs.

then hit 51 off 61 deliveries. ----

1985 World Championship of Cricket Final

got on top early in the final with

reducing

to 4 for 33 before

and

began a rescue act after both had been controversially given not out having edged deliveries to the wicketkeeper. 19-year-old leg spinner

had been a revelation during the tournament and produced another superb spell in the final. Pakistan's eventual total of 9 for 176 constituted a good recovery. It was the first time, in the tournament, that India had failed to bowl out the opposition. India bagged 49 out of a maximum possible 50 wickets in the tournament. Indian openers

and

each had wonderful tournaments and their century opening stand did most of the work for their strong batting line-up. Each were rewarded at the end of the match with Srikkanth winning the Player of the Match award and Shastri being named the player of the tournament, or as it was known, the Champion of Champions. He was awarded his prize of an

Audi 100 The Audi 100 and Audi 200 (and sometimes called Audi 5000 in North America) are primarily mid-size/executive cars manufactured and marketed by the Audi division of the Volkswagen Group. The car was made from 1968 to 1997 across four generations (C ...

motor car, valued at A$35,000 and immediately drove it around the MCG with his entire team sitting either in or on the car. The attendance of 35,296 in the match was the highest in Australia in a match not involving the home side. This was the only instance of the World Championship of Cricket. The Indian team that won the cup was adjudged by

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

as 'The Indian Team of the Century'.

References

{{reflist

External links

World Championship of Cricket scorecards on Cricinfo
International cricket competitions from 1980–81 to 1985 One Day International cricket competitions 1985 in Australian cricket International cricket competitions in Australia