World Cup Flashback: 1979 Final

West Indies won the very first cricket World Cup final as a deserving team. In that phase, there was nobody who was able to the likes of the Windies. Those were the days when the Windies were the uncrowned kings of the cricket world.
The 1976 test series against India played a vital role in the entire planning for West Indies. Clive Lloyd understood the importance of fast bowling to win a match. India had chased 406 in the 4^th innings of the test match in Port of Spain against the Windies spin attack. In the next match in Jamaica, Lylod used four fast bowlers – Michael Holding, Wayne Daniel, Bernard Julien, and Vanburen Holder. Indian captain Bishen Singh Bedi was forced to declare India’s second innings on 98/5, thanks to the deadly bowling by Llyod’s weapons. This helped Clive Lloyd to grow as a captain, West Indies as a team.
The Show Begins
This was reflected in the 1979 World Cup which was once again organized by England.  All of the teams from the first edition participated apart from East Africa. This time it was Canada who qualified through ICC Trophy Qualifier.
Group A consisted of England, Australia, Pakistan, and Canada. England emerged as the undefeated team followed by Pakistan in the second place. The last time runners up Australia were eliminated from the group stage after ending at the third position on the table with just one win from three matches.
Group B had the West Indies, New Zealand, India, and Sri Lanka. India and the neighboring country Sri Lanka were eliminated of the group and West Indies ended as the number one team with a 100% winning rate.
On  20^th June two semi-finals were played at The Oval and The Old Trafford.

At The Oval, West Indies were dominating the scene with a daunting total 293/6 in 60 overs. Gordon Greenidge (73) and Desmond Haynes (65) batter together for a partnership of 132 runs for the first wicket. Chasing that huge target was anyway almost an impossible job for Pakistan.  Still Zaheer Abbas (93) and Majid Khan (81) kept dreams alive but eventually, Pakistan fell short of 43 runs.
The Old Trafford saw England and New Zealand contesting for a star-studded semi-final. Graham Gooch (71) and Mike Brearley (53) took a decent total of 221/8 in 60 overs for England. John Wright (69) from the Kiwi camp put some resistance but finally, England clinched a victory by nine runs.
The Finale
 

 
A classic tale of heroics that started at Lord’s in 1975, continued till the next World Cup in 1979. It was the same venue. It was the same team who once again appeared at Home of Cricket to prove their worth as the world champions.
 
In the final encounter at Lord’s England won the toss and sent in West Indies to bat. It was almost a repetitive show of 1975 finale as West Indies started to struggle at a point with 99/4 on. But this time Viv Richards and Collis King rose to the most important occasion. They brought back West Indies to the match came. Viv got an unbeaten hundred (138*) and King (66-ball 86) played a crucial supportive role. Their partnership of 139 runs helped the Windies to put a mammoth score of 286/9 in 60 overs. Ian Botham, Mike Hendrick, Chris Old, and Phil Edmonds shared eight wickets by picking up two apiece and one was run out.
The Climax
The comeback worked like magic. West Indies did not only start dominating, but they were also able to play with the England team’s psychology as well. Apart from the top four batsmen none from the English lineup could score double-digit scores. Mike Brearley (64) and Geoff Boycott (57) gave a solid opening stand, but the hosts failed to capitalize on that. They lost eight wickets for just 11 runs. It was an absolute massacre for England in front of the home crowd. The hosts were all out for 194 runs. Joel Garner scalped five wickets and was supported by Colin Croft (3/42 in 10 overs) and Michael Holding (2/16 in 8 overs). Garner ended with striking bowling figure, 11-0-38-5.
The scene from the 1975 World Cup final was reshot on that day at Lord’s. Llyod once again lifted the most prestigious trophy. Their aggressive style of cricket actually helped to popularize the limited format of cricket in the future. A bunch of talented cricketer with utmost confidence and skilled showed the world yet again what determination can do. They once again announced themselves. If the 1975 World Cup was the beginning of their domination in world cricket, 1975 victory was a stamp on the same.