1983 Cricket World Cup
The 1983 Cricket World Cup was the 3rd edition of the Cricket World Cup tournament. It was held from 9 to 25 June 1983 in England and Wales and was won by India. Eight countries participated in the event. The 1983 World Cup was full of dramatic cricket all through the tournament. Teams like India and Zimbabwe who were not playing well during those times scored victories over the West Indies and Australia respectively. England, Pakistan, India and tournament favourites West Indies qualified for the semi-finals. The preliminary matches were played in two groups of four teams each, and each country played the others in its group twice. The top two teams in each group qualified for the semi-finals.
The matches consisted of 60 overs per innings and were played in traditional white clothing and with red balls. They were all played during the day.
Format
The format of the 1983 World Cup was 2 groups of four teams, each team playing each other twice. The top two teams from each group then advanced to the semi finals with the winners further advancing to the finals. Every game was of 60 overs with all day matches.Participants
Eight teams qualified for the final tournament.| Team | Method of qualification | Finals appearances | Last appearance | Previous best performance |
| Hosts | 3rd | 1979 | Runners-up | |
| Full member | 3rd | 1979 | Group stage | |
| Full member | 3rd | 1979 | Runners-up | |
| Full member | 3rd | 1979 | Semi-final | |
| Full member | 3rd | 1979 | Champions | |
| Full member | 3rd | 1979 | Semi-finals | |
| Full member | 3rd | 1979 | Group stage | |
| 1982 ICC Trophy | 1st | — | Debut |
Venues
Squads
Group stage
Group A
| Team | Pld | W | L | NR | RR | Pts |
| 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4.671 | 20 | |
| 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4.014 | 12 | |
| 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3.927 | 12 | |
| 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3.752 | 4 |
Group B
| Team | Pld | W | L | NR | RR | Pts |
| 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4.308 | 20 | |
| 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3.870 | 16 | |
| 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3.808 | 8 | |
| 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3.492 | 4 |
Knockout stage
Semi-finals
In the first semi-final, at Old Trafford on 22 June, England won the toss and elected to bat. The English batsmen mistimed many balls and used the bat's edge frequently, as the restrictive Indian bowling led England to score 213. Graeme Fowler top scored, and Kapil Dev took 3 for 35 in eleven overs, with Mohinder Amarnath and Roger Binny taking two wickets each. In reply, Yashpal Sharma and Sandeep Patil made half-centuries, as India reached their target in 54.4 overs, winning by 6 wickets in a classic victory over the previous tournament's runners-up. Mohinder Amarnath picked up the man-of-the-match award for his all round performance, which saw him add 46 runs to his earlier bowling success.The second semi-final, between Pakistan and the West Indies, was staged at The Oval on the same day. West Indies won the toss and invited Pakistan to bat, whom they restricted to just 184. Mohsin Khan fought his way past 50 against the superb West Indies Bowling. Malcolm Marshall and Andy Roberts starred with the ball. The West Indies innings was based around a superb innings by Viv Richards, who took the man-of-the-match award, and an unbeaten half-century by Larry Gomes, as the defending champions reached their target for the loss of just two wickets.
Final
In the final, India lost the toss and were asked to bat first against a West Indies. Only Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Mohinder Amarnath put up any significant resistance as Roberts, Marshall, Joel Garner and Michael Holding ripped through the Indian batsmen, ably supported by Gomes. Surprising resistance by the tail allowed India to compile 183. The Indian bowling exploited the weather and pitch conditions perfectly to bowl out the West Indies for 140 from 52 overs, winning by 43 runs and completing one of the most stunning upsets in cricket history. It still remains the lowest ever total successfully defended in a World Cup final. Amarnath and Madan Lal each took three wickets. Viv Richards, was West Indies' top scorer with 33 from 28 balls. Amarnath was the most economical bowler, conceding just 12 runs from his seven overs, while taking 3 wickets, and was once again awarded the Man of the Match award for his all-round performance. There was no 'Man of the Series' awarded in 1983.Statistics
| Matches | Player | Team | Runs |
| 7 | David Gower | 384 | |
| 8 | Viv Richards | 367 | |
| 7 | Graeme Fowler | 360 | |
| 7 | Zaheer Abbas | 313 | |
| 8 | Kapil Dev | 303 |
| Matches | Player | Team | Wickets |
| 8 | Roger Binny | 18 | |
| 6 | Ashantha de Mel | 18 | |
| 8 | Madan Lal | 17 | |
| 6 | Richard Hadlee | 14 | |
| 7 | Vic Marks | 13 |