Cup facts
The 1987 World Cup was the fourth cricket World Cup, and the first to be held in the Indian subcontinent.
Neighbours India and Pakistan were the co-hosts of the tournament, which was spread over 21 venues across the two countries.
The format was the same as in 1983: two groups of four with teams playing each other twice in the group stage. The top two from each group would progress to the semifinals.
Group A was made up by Australia, India, New Zealand and Zimbabwe, while West Indies, Pakistan, England and Sri Lanka made up Group B.
Zimbabwe were the only non-Test playing country in the tournament, having qualified through a separate tournament between the Associate nations.
West Indies’ score of 360 for 4 against Sri Lanka at Karachi on October 13 was the highest team total in international one-day cricket at the time.
Viv Richards’s score of 181 (125 balls, sixteen 4s, seven 6s) in the same match became the highest individual score in international one-day cricket, eclipsing Kapil Dev’s 175 against Zimbabwe in the last edition of the World Cup. The Master Blaster’s third-wicket partnership of 182 with opener Desmond Haynes in the match was the highest for any wicket in the 1987 World Cup.
Graham Gooch, the England opener, finished the Cup top of the run charts with 471 runs with one 100 and three 50s.
Australian fast bowler Craig McDermott walked away from the tournament with the most wickets with 18 — one 5-for, one 4-for — equalling Roger Binny’s Cup record set in 1983.
He also boasted the best bowling analysis of the tournament, destroying Pakistan with 5-44 in the semifinals at Lahore on November 4.
Kiran More (India) and Greg Dyer (Australia) had the most dismissals (11) among the wicketkeepers, but More sat top of the list having played two matches less.
In the final, Australia beat England by seven runs as the match went down to the wire. The turning point was England captain Mike Gatting’s dismissal off a reverse sweep when he was looking good. The bowler was his opposite number and eventual Cup-winning captain Allan Border.
David Boon with a sparkling innings of 75 in the final was adjudged man-of-the-match.
