India reaches the summit of grandeur
It was the pinnacle of Indian cricket on this day. The day when a team that had previously been as far removed from the pinnacle of achievement in limited-over cricket as the traditional is from the modern won the World Cup.
India demonstrated its ability to maintain composure and capitalise on opportunities that were first offered and then grasped in a match that was frequently dramatic and was mostly brought on by mediocre batting from both the challenger and the reigning champion.
The West Indian batting, helped down by its specialists who threw away their wickets at Lord’s, was unable to contend with the quick and accurate Indian bowling. Both teams abandoned the idea of fusing aggression with caution to fit the strategy of striking from a position of strength in their rash and careless assaults on the bowling, which increased in efficiency with each victory.
Only Kris Srikkanth (38) and Viv Richards (33) managed to stay over the low average despite the ideal batting circumstances. India managed to get over the first pressure of rapid bowling, which took advantage of the wicket’s freshness and early bounce, but they were unable to reach a score high enough to compete with such a team.
The West Indians, on the other hand, frequently lost wickets, and once Richards and Clive Lloyd went, there was no one left who could mount a comeback. Kapil Dev collected the catch off Madan Lal’s bowling while rushing from midwicket with his back to the pitch for a good 15 yards.
Captain Kapil did everything properly, switching back and forth between offence and defence. The Indian captain made a crucial breakthrough by utilising Mohinder Amarnath after Jeffrey Dujon and Malcolm Marshall battled to revive the situation (76 for six) with a 43-run stand. An in-cutter that ricocheted off the bat’s inner face and landed on Dujon’s leg stump killed him.
Lal and Amarnath in particular responded to the skipper’s request with a tight line and length, exposing for only the second time in history the West Indian batting vulnerabilities that had been hidden by the performance of the top-order batters.
The West Indies had only only been dismissed for 127 or fewer in a one-day international once previously, by England at Berbice in 1980.
When Holding was caught squarely in front while attempting a reckless draw off Amarnath, the historic victory was finally achieved.
Amarnath was named man-of-the-match for his 7-0-12-3 performance as India triumphed by a significant margin of 43 runs.
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