Cricket World Cup

WORLD CUP CRICKET

The idea of organising a World Cup of cricket was mooted and agreed to in principle in 1971 when such a proposal was discussed at a meeting of the International Cricket Conference in London. However, due to various commitments the tournaments could not be staged until 1975 when the original plan of a South African team's visit to England fell through following opposition to the country's racial policy. England's Prudential Assurance Company came forward with sponsorship and for three consecutive years— 1975, 1979 and 1983—the one-day limited overs cricket tournament was held in England. It became famous as the Prudential Cup. In the first two tournaments, apart from the six full members of the International Cricket Conference (England, Australia, West Indies, New Zealand, India and Pakistan), Sri Lanka, before being elevated to Test status in 1981, had joined East Africa in 1975 and Canada in 1979 (two top teams among the associate members) to complete the groups in the tournaments proper. The West Indies, under Clive Lloyd, not only won the first two tournaments in 1975 and 1979 but in true Calypso style they produced sparkling cricket and confirmed I heir unassailable supremacy in this game. India broke the West Indian stranglehold in 1983 to open a new chapter in the brief annals of this prestigious tournament. Apiirt from some sparkling individual performances, the competition witnessed thrills and upsets. India with a poor total of 183 bowled themselves back into the game and became memorable winners by 43 runs at the sensational final at Lord's. When India managed a total of 183 in the final with useful contributions from Srikkanth (38), Amarnath (26) and Sandeep Patil (27), it seemed an easy total for the West Indies to overcome, but they surprisingly folded up for 140 runs and India pulled off one of the cricket's greatest upsets. Amarnath's performance earned him the coveted Man of the Match award.

WORLD CUP CRICKET HISTORY Year Hosting Country Result 1975 UK West Indies beat Australia by 17 runs 1979 UK West Indies beat England by 92 runs 1983 UK India beat west Indies by 43 runs 1987 India & Pakistan Australia beat England by 7 runs. 1992 Australia Pakistan beat England by 22 runs. 1996 India, Pakistan & Sri Lanka Sri Lanka beat Australia by 7 wickets 1999 UK Australia beat Pakistan by 8 wickets. 2003 South Africa, Kenya & Zimbabwe Australia beat India by 125 runs 2007 West Indies, Bermuda Australia beat Sri Lanka 2011 India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka India beat Sri Lanka

Higest Individual Scores in ODI (Oneday International Cricket) * (Not out)
219	Virender Sehwag, India vs West Indies, Indore, December 2011.
200 *	Sachin Tendulkar, India vs South Africa, Gwalior, February 2010.
194*	Charles Coventry, Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh, Bulawayo, August 2009
194	Saheed Anwar, Pakistan vs India, Chennai, May 1997
189*	Viv Richards, West Indies vs England, Manchester, May, 1984
189	Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka vs India, Sharja, October 2000
188*	Gary Kirsten, South Africa vs UAE, Rawalpindi, February 1996
186*	Sachin Tendulkar, India vs New Zealand, Hydrabad, November 1999
183*	Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India vs Srilanka, Jaipur, October 2005
183	Sourav Ganguly, India vs Sri Lanka, Tauton, May 1999
181*	Mathew Hayden, Australia vs New Zealand, Hamilton, February 2007
181	Viv Richards, west Indies vs Sri Lanka, Karachi, October 1987.