The first Men’s Cricket ODI World Cup began 43 years ago.
The tournament’s inaugural edition in England began on June 7, 1975, with four games played at four different locations. The event took place in five different locations across England and featured eight teams from the following countries: Australia, East Africa, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies.
We consider the greatest moments of the competition as well as the original stars of the most prestigious championship in international cricket to mark the milestone.
The West Indies, led by Clive Lloyd, became the first men’s team to win the Cricket World Cup after winning each of their five matches.They won Group B thanks to wins over Australia, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Their style of cricket lit up arenas all around England. They progressed to the historic final at Lord’s, when they defeated Australia again to claim the title of world champions, having defeated New Zealand in the semi-final at The Oval. Their team featured many outstanding players, including Lance Gibbs, Gordon Greenidge, and Sir Vivian Richards, in addition to captain Lloyd. Glenn Turner of New Zealand was the only player to hit two centuries and finish comfortably atop the run-scoring standings during the 1975 World Cup. He scored almost half of his runs in the competition in an exciting knock of 171* against East Africa on the opening day of play, which stood as the highest score of the edition.
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He finished with a score of 114* in a Manchester match against India, which was his second century. His 36 against the West Indies in the semi-final match put him 90 runs clear of his nearest rival Dennis Amiss. The 1975 World Cup saw the late Gary Gilmour finish as the competition’s best wicket-taker despite playing in just two games. The left-arm swing bowler, who arrived in Leeds for Australia’s semi-final match against England, concluded with a brilliant 6/14 from 12 overs to advance his team to the final. His form carried over into the West Indies championship match at Lord’s, when he took 5/48 but was unable to break the Windies’ winning streak. The fact that Gilmour had the greatest stats throughout the competition versus England shouldn’t be shocking.
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In addition to creating a record for the 1975 tournament, England’s opening-day total of 334/4 against India was the best score in history for eight years. At Lord’s, England opener Dennis Amiss stole the show with a score of 137 off 147 balls. He was well supported by Mike Denness (37), Chris Old (51*), and Keith Fletcher (68).
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