When Kapil Dev's Team India pulled off the unthinkable at Lord's
Fairytale stories in sports have always been an inspiration. They often tend to revolutionise things and sketch a new beginning. Cricket in India had experienced a similar exactly 38 years back when Kapil Dev's Team India had pulled off the unthinkable at the Lord's.
West Indies were then the Goliath in world cricket, led by the daunting Clive Llyod. Clubbed into the second group, West Indies, the defending champions, lost just one en route to finishing atop in the group table, winning five other matches. Viv Richards' knock of 96-ball 80 helped the Windies beat Pakistan to reach the final.
England were the next big side in the competition and a summit clash between the two looked inevitable. Like the Windies, they too finished atop in their group, losing just one.
Parallelly, the unheralded Indian team were slowly making their way through the unknown, and towards what most felt was unachievable for them. They finished second behind West Indies in the second group, losing two games, before stunning the English side at the Old Trafford in the semi-final.
A journey as inspirational it was, did match the dominance of Richards' men. India were never the favourites for the biggest competition in world cricket, and a total of 183 only reinforced that opinion.
West Indies got off to a promising start, motoring to 50 for one with the skipper hitting seven boundaries in his 28-ball 33. But one moment of magic changed the course of the game. Richards sent a skier off Madan Lal and Indian skipper Kapil Dev pulled off a sensational catch and West Indies soon wobbled to 76 for 6.
Mohinder Amarnath then broke the late resistance from Jeff Dujon and Malcolm Marshall as West Indies slipped further, eventually bundling for just 140.
Amarnath had bagged the Man of the Match award for his 3 for 12 in seven overs.
