On this day: The inaugural Cricket World Cup got underway

The summer of 1975 witnessed an event that, in many ways, changed world cricket.

The inaugural World Cup, held over a memorable fortnight in England, gave rise to the limited-overs format, which at that time was given the thumbs down by purists.

The first World Cup almost didn’t happen. There was a lot of criticism against the format but finally the decision-makers made the call and the World Cup, officially known as the Prudential Cup ’75, took place from June 7-21.

Hosted by the International Cricket Conference (ICC), the tournament featured a total of eight teams. Six Test-playing nations – West Indies, Australia, England, Pakistan, India and New Zealand were joined by two leading associate nations – Sri Lanka and East Africa.

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There was no razzmatazz which is now a hallmark of the white-ball game. There was no colored clothing as the players wore traditional white attire. The matches were played with red balls and neither of them was a day-night encounter.

The teams were divided into two groups of four, with each team playing each other in their group once; the top two from each group qualified for the semi-finals, with the winners of these matches meeting in the final. Each match consisted of 60 overs per team.

On the opening day on June 7, a total of four games were played.

Bizarre knock

The one featuring hosts England and India turned out to be quite bizarre.

Dennis Amiss became a part of cricketing history by becoming the first cricketer to score a World Cup hundred as England piled up 334-4 in the allotted 60 overs.

India, it seemed, gave up even before the chase began.

Sunil Gavaskar, now counted among the greatest batters in cricket history, batted for the entire 60 overs and finished with an unbeaten 36 from 174 balls! He hit just one boundary as India lost by 202 runs.

Among the highlights of the inaugural World Cup was a nail-biting game featuring the West Indies and Pakistan.

Before the start of the World Cup both the West Indies and Pakistan were counted among the favorites for the title.

Nail-biting encounter

And their group game in Birmingham showed why.

Pakistan entered the event without two of their star players. Asif Iqbal was recovering after a surgery while a young Imran Khan was busy with his exams.

But despite the duo’s absence, the Pakistanis were in their element against the formidable West Indians as they scored 266-7 with a help of a sparkling knock of 60 by the stylish Majid Khan. Then they reduced the West Indies to 166-8 before the pair of Deryck Murray and Andy Roberts stole the match away in the final over. The narrow defeat proved costly for Pakistan as they failed to progress to the semi-finals.

The West Indies, England, Australia and New Zealand qualified for the last-four stage.

In the semis, Australia crushed England while the West Indians proved too good for New Zealand.

The final saw West Indian captain Clive Lloyd as he hit a magnificent 102 from 85 balls to help his side amass 291-8. Lloyd was later instrumental in three run-outs as Australia were bowled out for 274. The West Indians were over the moon and celebrated their historic triumph in front of a packed crowd.

Against all predictions, the inaugural World Cup turned out to be a success. The ODI format had scored its first big win against the traditional Test format.