CRICKET WORLD CUPs HISTORY

WORLD CUP 1975
he cricket world cup of 1975 was the first ever cricket world cup and looking back on it is quite a bizarre experience. Prior to 1975, only 18 one dayinternationals had ever been played. The idea of ODI cricket was in its infancy reflected in cricket whites, a red ball and 60 over format closer resembling Test cricket. Held in England the cricket world cup went from June 7 to June 21 over a fortnight period.
1975 Cricket World Cup final was played between Australia and West Indies. Australiawas chasing a victory target of 292 runs and fell short by 17 runs in the 1975 Cricket World Cup final. 1975 Cricket World Cup final was nicely poised when the last Australian pair was playing. The Australian fast bowling duo of Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee were the last two Aussie batsmen, attacking the West Indian bowlers with courage. They’ve already added 41 runs for the last wicket and at one stage seemed to steal the 1975 Cricket World Cup final from the jaws of West Indies. There was no Man of the Series award in the Cricket World Cup 1975, as it was the first Cricket World Cup. The Man of the match award in the 1975 Cricket World Cup final was given to Clive Lloyd.  Cricket World Cup 1975. The first Cricket World Cup was an instant hit among the spectators.

WORLD CUP 1979

Cricket World Cup 1979, also known as the 'PrudentialCup' was the second edition of the series. The host nation was England and the event took place from June 9 to June 23. Total eight teams participated in this mega event who played the preliminary matches in 2 groups of 4 each. The top two teams from each group contested in the semifinals. The winners played the final match.
Then, the matches were played in a traditional fashion. Same white uniforms, red balls and played only during the day-light. The match use to start early and consisted of 60 overs.
West Indies and England played the final at the Lord's cricket ground in London. West Indies won by 92 runs. The Prudential Cup was lifted by the captain of West Indies, Clive Lloyd. This was the second consecutive time the West Indies won the World Cup. The other two semifinalists were New Zealand and Pakistan.

WORLD CUP 1983

Cricket World Cup 1983 or the Prudential Cup 1983 was the third edition of the World Cup series. For the third consecutive year, England again hosted the tournament. The event took place between June 9 to June 25. Eight nations participated in the event. They played the preliminary matches in 2 groups of 4 each. Unlike the two previous World Cup, each country played its groupmates twice. The top two teams from each group played the semifinals and the winner of each semifinal qualified for the final.
Then, the matches were played in a traditional fashion. Same white uniforms, red balls and played only during the day-light. The match use to start early and consisted of 60 overs.
England, Pakistan, West Indies and India qualified to the semifinals. India pulled victory over England and faced West Indies in the final match. Batting first, the Indians were all out for 183. West Indies were expected to become third consecutive World Cup winner but the bowling and fielding efforts of India managed a 43 run win. Thus, the PrudentialCup switched hands from the West Indies to India. The team was captained by Kapil Dev and the Man of the Match was Mohinder Amarnath.


WORLD CUP 1987

The Cricket World Cup 1987, also known as Reliance Cup was the fourth edition of the series of World Cup. For the first time, the tournament was held outsideEngland. India and Pakistan together hosted this mega event of One-Day Cricket. The opening match was on October 9 and final, November 8. The same tradition was followed as in the past three World Cups, white dress, red balls and day-light match. The only change that took place was the reduction of overs from 60 to 50, the current standard.
As the three previous World Cups, even this time only 8 countries participated who played the preliminary matches in 2 groups of 4 each. Following the 1983 World Cup, each country played its groupmates twice. The top two teams from each group played the semifinals and the winners qualified for the final match.
Australia won the final by defeating the arch-rivals England by 7 runs, the most closely fought World Cup final to date. Allan Border, the captain of Australia Team lifted the 1987 World Cup in the Eden Gardens stadium in Calcutta (India). India and Pakistan were the other semifinalists, which they failed to bring about an eagerly awaited India-Pakistan final. The two time winner, West Indies, failed to live up to expectations by not qualifying for the semifinals. David Boon was awarded the title of 'Man of the Match.'


WORLD CUP 1992
The 1992 Cricket World Cup (Benson & Hedges World Cup) was the fifth edition of the tournament and was held from 22 February to 25 March 1992 in Australia and New Zealand. Sponsored by Benson and Hedges, it was won by Pakistan, who defeatedEngland in the final.

The final will be remembered by all Pakistanis as they saw two of their greatest cricketers, Imran Khan and Javed Miandad, perform superbly as they set a target of 250, which proved too much for England to chase.
The final began with eerie resemblances to same fixture earlier in the tournament when Englandbowled out Pakistan for a paltry 74, as Derek Pringle dismissed both Pakistani openers at 24. However, Imran Khan and Javed Miandad settled down to see off the new ball. A crucial moment occurred when Imran Khan was dropped by Graham Gooch at 9 runs. He later went on to score a match-winning 72. At the 25 over mark, Pakistan had only scored 70, but accelerated the score to 139 by the 31st over as Javed Miandad summoned a runner and Imran and him built a steady partnership. During his innings, Imran Khan hit a huge six off Richard Illingworth that landed far back into the members section. Imran went onto score 72 and Miandad 58 to steady the innings, expectedly followed by an onslaught from Inzamam (42) and Wasim Akram (35) enabling Pakistan to give England a fighting target of 250.
England's start was shaky. Ian Botham was dismissed for a duck by Wasim Akram, followed by Stewart, Hick and Gooch, which left England tumbling at 69/4. A solid partnership of 71 between Allan Lamb and Neil Fairbrother left Imran with no choice but to give an early second spell to his main pacer Wasim Akram in the 35th over. The decision wrote the fate of the match. Two magical deliveries from the great left arm fast bowler showed Allan Lamb and the dangerous Chris Lewis the pavilion door. Soon Fairbrother was caught by Moin Khan off Aaqib Javed to seal England's last hope. When the cards were laid down, Captain Imran Khan had the last laugh when Derek Pringle was caught by Ramiz Raja off his delivery to finish off the final and deservedly crown Pakistan World Champions of cricket.


WORLD CUP 1996

The fortune of team Sri Lanka was limited, as it seemed, when Australia, having lost the toss, were obliged to field and bowl in a foggy day, turning to oblivion of the fact that all the five previous finals were not won by chasing teams. Limiting Australia at 241 for 7, although they were 137 for 1 in the 27th over, the Lankans tottering at 23 for 2 won the match with 7 wickets with 22 balls to spare.
The 1996 ICC Cricket World Cup was a witness to a huge margin in limited-overs cricket. It also featured three brand new teams, the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands and Kenya - the best team among the three who defeated the West Indies in a league game putting a period to their batsmen to a mere 93 runs,chasing for 166.
Sri Lanka won the first semi-final over India at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in front of a crowd unofficially estimated at 110 000. Chasing Sri Lanka's innings of 251 for 8, India had slumped to 120 for 8 in the 35th over when sections of crowd began to throw fruit andplastic bottles onto the field. The players left the field for 20 minutes in an attempt to quieten the crowd. When the players returned for play, more bottles were thrown onto the field and fires were lit in the stand. Match referee Clive Lloyd awarded the match toSri Lanka, the first default ever in a Test or One Day International.
In the second semi-final in Mohali, Australia recovered from 15 for 4 to reach 207 for 8 from their 50 overs. The West Indians had reached 165 for 2 in the 42nd over before losing their last 8 wickets for 37 runs in 50 balls.
For the first time cricket lovers around the world saw the organization taking a leap forward, World Cup being hosted by three countries. Also for the first time, a host team taking glory of the champions crown. And, of course, unlike past Cricket World Cups, this one was dominated entirely by the batsmen, revolutionizing the one-day approach to the game by taking the attack within the first 15 overs. Arvinda De Silva (107 not out) became the third batsman, following Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards, to score a century in a World Cup Final.


WORLD CUP 1999

The 1999 Cricket World Cup went from 

14 May 1999 to 20 June 1999

, the seventh edition of the tournament, was hosted primarily by England, but Ireland, Wales, Scotland and the Netherlands also hosted some games. The World Cup was won by Australia, who beat Pakistan by 8 wickets at Lord's Cricket Ground in London. New Zealand and South Africa were the other semifinalists.

The format of the world cup was as follows: The 12 contestants were divided into 2 groups, in each of which teams played each other in the league stage. The top three from each group advanced to the Super Sixes, a new concept brought about in this World Cup, where each qualifier from group A played with each qualifier from group B. The teams also carried forward their points from games against each qualifer from their group. The top four in the Super Sixes contested the semifinals.Australia won the cup by beating Pakistan by 8 wickets. It was a one-sided final at the Lord's cricket ground in London. The other two semifinalists were New Zealand and South Africa. Shane Warne was Man of the Match in the final match as well as in the semi-final. Rahul Dravid of India made the maximum runs in the tournament. Lance Klusener of South Africa was crowned as Man of the Tournament. Sourabh Ganguly of India scored the highest, 183 against Sri Lanka at Taunton.

WORLD CUP 2003

The 2003 Cricket World Cup was officially named as ICC Cricket World Cup 2003. First time in the history of Cricket World Cup, the tournament was held in Africa. It was hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya. The event took place between February 9 to March 24.
Total 14 teams participated, divided into two groups of 7 teams. The best 3 teams of each group advanced to the Super Six, carrying the results against other qualifiers to that round. The top 4 teams of Super Six played the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-finals played qualified for the final.
Australia and India played the final match. Australia clinch their third Cricked World Cup with a 125 runs victory. They scored a massive 359 for 2, the highest-ever one-day total. Ponting became Man of the Match and Sachin Tendulkar of India, Man of the Series.


WORLD CUP 2007

The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth edition of the tournament and took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007, using the sport's One Day International format. There were a total of 51 matches played, three fewer than at the 2003 World Cup (despite a field larger by two teams).
The 16 competing teams were initially divided into four groups, with the two best-performing teams from each group moving on to a "Super 8" format. From this, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and South Africa won through to the semi-finals, with Australia defeating Sri Lanka in the final to win their third consecutive World Cup. Australia's unbeaten record in the tournament increased their total to 29 consecutive World Cup matches without loss, a streak dating back to 23 May 1999, during the group stage of the 1999 World Cup.The 2007 tournament recorded the highest ticketing revenue for a Cricket World Cup, selling more than 672,000. Although, attendance leading into the semi finals for the 2007 World Cup was 403,000; an average of 8,500 supporters per match

MUMBAI, India — India won cricket’s World Cup for the first time in 28 years Saturday with a six-wicket victory at home over Sri Lanka.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni provided the runs and helped the great Sachin Tendulkar to his first title in six attempts. Tendulkar was lifted onto his teammates’ shoulders for a victory lap.


“It’s the ultimate thing and I’m experiencing it,” Tendulkar said. “I couldn’t have asked for anything better. It’s the proudest moment of my life.”
Tendulkar was out for 18, unable to produce his 100th international century on his homeground. Still, his teammates dedicated the victory to him.
“He carried the hopes of the nation for 21 years so it’s time we carried him on our shoulders,” batsman Virat Kohli said.
The 37-year-old Tendulkar, the leading runscorer in international cricket, praised his teammates.
“It’s never too late as they say. Thanks to all my teammates. Without such fabulous performance and such consistency it would never have happened,” he said, adding he wasn’t too proud to shed a tear. “They were happy tears, so I wouldn’t mind crying.”
Dhoni scored an unbeaten 91, sharing a 109-run stand with Gautam Gambhir (97) and finishing with a giant six. India chased down Sri Lanka 274-6 and became the first team to win batting second in a final since Sri Lanka beat Australia by eight wickets in 1996. Australia won the three previous World Cups – 1999, 2003 and 2007.
There was no winning farewell to international cricket for Muttiah Muralitharan, the only survivor from Sri Lanka’s 1996 winning squad.