1979
Final: West Indies def. England by 92 runs
The West Indies were favorites and worthy winners, helped in the final by the brilliance of Viv Richards and Collis King at the crease, and a batting collapse by the hosts that was spectacular even by England standards.
In a promising start, bowlers Mike Hendrick and Chris Old appeared to have the reigning champions in some trouble at 99-4. But a swashbuckling 86 off 66 balls from King and an inspired knock by Richards, who went on to finish unbeaten on 138, added a punitive 139 runs for the next wicket.
Set a victory target of 287, Mike Brearley and Geoff Boycott put runs on the board -- but did so far too slowly.
England needed 38 overs to reach 129 for the first wicket and even Graham Gooch's best efforts failed to make a decisive impact.
From 183-2, England's batsmen added a paltry 11 runs for the next eight wickets as the West Indies retained their title.
There was no room in the semifinals for a below-strength team from Australia, whose best players were all absent due to their contracts with Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket.
The new ICC Trophy for non-test playing nations, created to give World Cup berths to the tournament's two finalists, provided places at the main event for Sri Lanka and Canada.
