" It was an overcast saturday and Lords sulked under hesitant clouds.
The weather couldn't make up its mind. The crowd was energetic as the sun
finally won its age-old battle and Lloyd prepared to toss. I lost the toss and
Lloyd asked us to bat first. Roberts opened the attack with Garner. Lloyd had
decided to keeo Holding and Marshall back. Roberts rose to the occasion and
gave his captain a dream start. Gavaskar caught Dujon bowled Roberts for 2.
Amarnath came in and dropped anchor. Srikanth at the other end was on a
rampage. He slashed Garner for 4, drove Roberts to midwicket for 4 and then
hooked him for a 6. He was taking his chances as we sat on the player's balcony
with our hearts pumping like landed fish. Srikanth couldn't last. He was defying
the odds. Clive Lloyd introduced Marshall into the attack and Srikanth
succumbed. Mohinder and Yashpal put on 31 runs in a slow partnership that was
always under pressure. Both went in quick succession. Amarnath's off stump was
knocked out by Holding and Yashpal fell to the innocuous Gomes. We were 92 for
4 and the situation deteriorated when I was caught in the deep by Holding off
Gomes for 15 - not enough. At 6 for 111 the West Indian spectators were beside
themselves with joy. The reverberations of defeat would be knelling across the
sub-continent. The match was being described as a no-contest.
Our last four wickets added 72 runs in a do or die effort. I felt
proud of the way the tail stuck it out. Especially Sandhu our last man in. He
played some cheeky shots and this brought the wrath of Marshall on him.
Marshall pinged a bouncer off Sandhu's helmet as if to emphasise the danger-
should the foolish man persist. Sandhu persisted and was undefeated with 11
priceless runs at the end. Madan Lal had soldiered for 17 before he was bowled
by Marshall. Holding snuffed Kirimani and the West Indians ran off the field
belieiving the cup was theirs. Our score was 183, a less than imposing total.
There were no long speeches in our dressing room. We decided to go
out and do our best. In the 4th over Greenidge shouldered arms to a ball from
Sandhu, which pitched outside the off stump. We couldn't believe it. The ball
cannoned into the off stump and we had them 1 down with 5 on the board. It gave
us a semblance of hope.
Viv Richards strode to the grease and reached a quickfire 33 with the
help of 6 explosive boundaries. Haynes was caught at covers for 13. At 2 for 57
the Windies had to get 127 off 46 overs with Richards in full flight. It looked
like a foregone conclusion and we were praying.
Richards swung at Madan Lal and the ball soared over midwicket. It
was always going away from me as I sprinted towards the boundary and I overtook
the flight path of the ball, twenty yards in from the boundary. I caught a
glimpse of it descending over my left shoulder and I was running away from it.
I slowed fractionally and managed to hang on to the ball in the tips of my
fingers. I knew we had a chance now as I threw the ball into the air. I was
almost ecstatic. Our team regrouped and I exhorted them onto one last concerted
effort.
We were talking to each other now. There was a sense of urgency and
we had to be careful not to trip over our sense of anticipiation. Nine runs
later we had decimated the cream of the West Indian batting. Lloyd reached for a
drive and hit a simple catch to me at short mid-on. We had Super Cat. Gomes and
Bacchus caved in to the pressure but Dujon and Marshall retrieved the situation
with a stand of 43 for the 7th wicket. This was the crucial partnership. I had
to dislodge Dujon and I reintroduced Amarnath, who had only one over before
this. His first ball was not extraordinary. It dinked fractionally and Dujon
edged it onto his stumps. Dujon was astonished and gaped open-mouthed at his
fallen citadel. At 7 for 119 we were steam-rolling. Five runs later Gavaskar
caught Marshall off Amarnath again and we mobbed this quiet unassuming man. The
score was now 124 for 8 and I decided to reintroduce myself, eager to blast out
the remaining batsmen. I struck Roberts right in front and screamed for LBW.
The finger going up from the umpire shot my fist into the heavens. I could
taste the winning fever. I tingled. Garner and Holding hit out to 140 as
Amarnath decided to end this last fitful resurgence. One dipped back and
holding was adjudged LBW and the roof was shouted off in India.
The reverberations shook Lords and we had defied both the odds and the gods.
The cup was ours. I accepted the Prudential World cup and this was the most
joyous moment of my life".
Lord's, 25 June 1983.
Toss: West Indies
INDIA WON BY 43 RUNS.
Umpires: H.D.Bird and B.J.Meyer
INDIA
S.M.Gavaskar c Dujon b Roberts 2
K.Srikkanth lbw b Marshall 38
M.B.Amarnath b Holding 26
Yashpal Sharma c Logie (sub) b Gomes 11
S.M.Patil c Gomes b Garner 27
Kapil Dev c Holding b Gomes 15
Kirti Azad c Garner b Roberts 0
R.M.H.Binny c Garner b Roberts 2
S.Madan Lal b Marshall 17
S.M.H.Kirmani b Holding 14
B.S.Sandhu not out 11
Extras (b-5, lb-5, w-9, nb-1) 20
TOTAL (all out, 54.4 overs) 183
FOW: 2, 59, 90, 92, 110, 111, 130, 153, 161, 183
Bowling O M R W
Roberts 10 3 32 3
Garner 12 4 24 1
Marshall 11 1 24 2
Holding 9.4 2 26 2
Gomes 11 1 49 2
Richards 1 0 8 0
WEST INDIES
C.G.Greenidge b Sandhu 1
D.L.Haynes c Binny b Madan Lal 13
I.V.A.Richards c Kapil Dev b Madan Lal 33
C.H.Lloyd c Kapil Dev b Binny 8
H.A.Gomes c Gavaskar b Madan Lal 5
S.F.A.F.Bacchus c Kirmani b Sandhu 8
P.J.L.Dujon b Amarnath 25
M.D.Marshall c Gavaskar b Amarnath 18
A.M.E.Roberts lbw b Kapil Dev 4
J.Garner not out 5
M.A.Holding lbw b Amarnath 6
Extras (lb-4, w-10) 14
TOTAL (all out, 52 overs) 140
FOW: 5, 50, 57, 66, 66, 76, 119, 124, 126, 140
Bowling O M R W
Kapil Dev 11 4 21 1
Sandhu 9 1 32 2
Madan Lal 12 2 31 3
Binny 10 1 23 1
Amarnath 7 0 12 3
Azad 3 0 7 0
Man of the Match: M.B.Amarnath