The 1983 Cricket World Cup (aka Prudential Cup, 1983) 


was the third
edition of the tournament. It was held from 9 June to 25 June 1983 in
England and was won by India. Eight countries participated in the
event. The preliminary matches were played in two groups of four teams
each, and each country played the others in its group twice. The top
two teams in each group qualified for the semi-finals. The matches
consisted of 60 overs per team and were played in traditional white
clothing and with red balls. They were all played during the day.The
1983 World Cup was full of dramatic cricket right from the start.
Teams like India and Zimbabwe who were not playing well at those times
scored upset victories over the West Indies and Australia
respectively. England, Pakistan, India and tournament favorites West
Indies qualified for the semifinals.



Final Highlights:



1983 World Cup final was played between India and West Indies.
India lost the toss and were asked to bat first against a West Indies
team that arguably boasted the world's best bowling attack. Only Kris
Srikkanth (38 from 57 balls) and Mohinder Amarnath (26 from 80 balls)
put up any significant resistance as Roberts, Marshall, Joel Garner
and Michael Holding ripped through the Indian batsmen, ably supported
by Gomes. Surprising resistance by the tail allowed India to compile
183 (all out, 54.4 overs). Only three sixes were hit in the Indian
innings, one from Srikkanth, one from Sandeep Patil (27 from 29
balls), and one from Madan Lal (17 from 27 balls). However, the Indian
bowling exploited the weather and pitch conditions perfectly to bowl
out the best batting lineup of the era for 140 from 52 overs in
return, winning by 43 runs and completing one of the most stunning
upsets in cricket history, defeating the previously invincible West
Indies. Amarnath and Madan Lal (3-31) each took three wickets, and one
memorable moment was the sight of Kapil Dev running a great distance
(about 18-20 yards) to take a catch to dismiss Richards, the West
Indies top scorer with 33 from 28 balls. Amarnath was the most
economical bowler, conceding just 12 runs from his seven overs while
taking 3 wickets, and was once again awarded the Man of the Match
award for his all-round performance. There was no 'Man of the Series'
awarded in 1983.



Tournament Highlights:



In 1983 World cup league match, India were in a precarious position at
17/5. It was a must win match for India to go ahead. Doubts surrounded
that whether India will be able to score at-least 100 runs. But
Captain Kapil Dev played one of the memorable innings in ODIs and
taken Indian total to mammoth 266 with the support of lower order
batsmen. Kapil scored unbeaten 175 runs.Later Zimbabwe was all out for
235 and India won by 31 runs.