The first major tournament in the history of One Day International Cricket, the Men’s ODI World Cup in 1975, saw the dominance of the mighty West Indies. Led by Clive Lloyd, West Indies started the match as the favourites.
Windies reached the final after remaining unbeatable in the league stage. They defeated Australia in the final on June 21, 1975, by 17 runs and scripted history by becoming the first team to lift the ODI WC.
The historic match between Australia and West Indies commenced with the toss going in the favour of Australian skipper Ian Chappell at the Lord’s in London.
Asked to bat first, West Indies posted a total of 291 runs in their 60 overs. Skipper Lloyd led from the front as he smashed a stunning 102 runs off just 85 balls.
After the horrific collapse of the West Indies top-order, it was Rohan Kanhai who supported his captain by playing the role of anchor and adding 55 runs to the scoreboard. For Australia, Gary Gilmour was the wrecker-in-chief as he ran through the opposition’s batting line-up to pick five wickets. Apart from Gary, Jeff Thomson picked two scalps while Dennis Lillee took one.
Chasing 292, Australia started on a poor note as they lost their opening batsman Rick McCosker for just seven. This was followed by Alan Turner and skipper Chappell trying to stabilize their team as they scored 40 and 62 runs respectively.
However, it was the right-arm pacer Keith Boyce who spoiled the day for Australia.
The seamer brought West Indies back into the game as he picked as many as four wickets while conceding just 50 runs in his 12 overs. Apart from Boyce, only Clive Lloyd managed to pick one wicket for the Caribbean nation. Thus, a stunning effort by the bowling side ensured that West Indies won the first World Cup by 17 runs.
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