The inaugural ICC Cricket World Cup final was held on 21
June 1975 at Lord's, contested by Australia and the West Indies. A man of the
match performance,including a century from West Indian captain Clive Lloyd
coming in to bat at number five with his team 50/3, formed the basis of a
149-run fourth-wicket partnership with Rohan Kanhai. Keith Boyce added a quick 34
and the Australians were set a target of 292 to win in a 60-over encounter. In
reply, Alan Turner hit 40 from 54 deliveries and Australian captain Ian
Chappell scored 62 from 93 balls. Australia "contributed to their own
destruction" in an innings with five run outs, and the West Indies were
crowned the first cricket world champions, winning by 17 runs.
Four years
later, the West Indies qualified for the final, this time facing England,
hosted at Lord's for the second consecutive tournament. An unbeaten 138 from
Viv Richards, and support from Collis King in a 139-run partnership for the
fifth wicket, saw the West Indies set England a target of 287 runs to win in 60
overs. A profitable yet slow opening partnership between Mike Brearley and
Geoffrey Boycott (the latter taking 17 overs to reach double figures) saw
England to 129. However, following Brearley's dismissal, only Graham Gooch and
Derek Randall made a "brief assault" on the West Indian bowling, before
a batting collapse, Joel Garner taking five wickets in eleven balls. England
ended 194 all out, and presented the West Indies with their second consecutive
title, winning by 92 runs.
Lord's re-hosted the third World Cup final in June 1983, and
was West Indies' third consecutive final. On this occasion, they faced India in
front of 24,609 spectators. Sunil Gavaskar was dismissed early in the innings
for two runs, and only Kris Srikkanth scored more than thirty; Andy Roberts
took three wickets for the West Indies leaving India all out for 183. Following
the dismissals of Viv Richards, Desmond Haynes and Larry Gomes by Madan Lal for
six runs between them, the West Indies collapsed to 140 all out, handing the
title to India by 43 runs. India and Pakistan co-hosted the 1987 tournament;
the final was held at Eden Gardens in Kolkata between Australia and England,
both appearing for the second time and vying for their first title. Australia
won the toss and elected to bat first; David Boon scored 75 runs from 125
deliveries, while Mike Veletta made a rapid 45 from 31 deliveries taking
Australia to a total of 253/5 by the close of play, this time after 50 overs.
In front of around 70,000 spectators, England's middle order of Bill Athey,
Mike Gatting and Allan Lamb provided some resistance, but with 17 runs required
in the final over to win, England fell short and lost by 7 runs.
The 1992 tournament was co-hosted by Australia and New
Zealand, with the first ever day/night final being held at the Melbourne
Cricket Ground in Australia between England and Pakistan. In their first final
appearance, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first. Despite two early
wickets from Derek Pringle, Pakistani batsmen Imran Khan and Javed Miandad
shared a third-wicket partnership of 139. Both Inzamam-ul-Haq and Wasim Akram
added over thirty runs each at more than a run-a-ball, leading Pakistan to a
total of 249/6 in 50 overs. A crowd of over 87,000 saw man-of-the-match Wasim
Akram take three of England's wickets, including that of all-rounder Ian Botham
for a duck, after Graeme Hick was "baffled by the googly". England
were bowled out for 227, and Pakistan won by 22 runs.[23] India, Pakistan and
Sri Lanka hosted the tournament in 1996. Sri Lanka was making their first
appearance in the final, and faced 1987 champions Australia in another
day/night contest. After winning the toss, Arjuna Ranatunga sent Australia in
to bat at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Captain Mark Taylor and Ricky Ponting
added 101 in their second-wicket partnership as Australia completed their 50
overs 241/7.[25] Man of the match Aravinda de Silva's century, assisted by partnerships
with Asanka Gurusinha and Ranatunga led Sri Lanka to the total with 22 balls
and 7 wickets to spare, and their first win in the final. This was the first
time a host won the title, though the final was played in Pakistan. It was also
the first time that the team batting second emerged victorious.
Adam Gilchrist, in white cricket uniform and baggy green
hat, holds his left hand to hi
s chinAustralia's Adam Gilchrist made sizeable contributions with the bat in three consecutive finals.
Australia's "12-year era of World Cup dominance"
began with the 1999 tournament, hosted
for the fourth time by England. In a "one-sided" final, Shane Warne's
four wickets helped to restrict Pakistan to 132 runs, all out with 11 overs yet
to bat. A rapid fifty from Adam
Gilchrist, and support from Mark Waugh, Ponting and Darren Lehmann, saw
Australia reach the total in just over 20 overs, winning by eight wickets. The 2003 tournament had three co-hosts: South
Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe, the final being a day/night match contested between
Australia and India at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. Gilchrist and
Matthew Hayden opened the batting, making a century partnership before Ponting
and Damien Martin went on to score the highest partnership in any World Cup
final with an unbeaten 234. Australia batted out their fifty overs, and ended
on the highest score in World Cup final history: 359/2. Player of the
tournament Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed in the first over of India's reply
but Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid combined to score 88 in their fourth
wicket partnership. However, following Dravid's dismissal, India's batting
collapsed, and they finished on 234 all out with nearly eleven overs remaining,
handing Australia a 125-run victory.
The 2007 final, held at the Kensington Oval in Barbados, was
reduced to 38 overs a side following a two-hour rain delay. Australia's
Gilchrist hit the fastest century in a World Cup final at a strike rate of over
143 and his opening stand with Hayden became the largest first-wicket
partnership in World Cup history. Australia ended on 281/4, an average of 7.39
runs per over. In reply, Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara accumulated 116
runs for the second wicket, but with Chamara Silva the only other batsman to
score over 20, Sri Lanka capitulated. Despite a revised target, due to a
further rain break, calculated using the Duckworth–Lewis method, Sri Lanka
scored 215–8 from their allotted overs. With a 53-run victory, Australia won
their third consecutive World Cup. Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka co-hosted
the 2011 tournament, with the latter pair meeting in the final in the Wankhede
Stadium in Mumbai. Scoring 91 runs in their final 10 overs, Sri Lanka's
innings ended on 274/6, Mahela
Jayawardene top-scoring with an unbeaten 103.