World Championship of Cricket
The Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket was a One Day International tournament held from 17 February to 10 March 1985 in Australia and won by India.
| Dates | 17 February 1985 – 10 March 1985 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | Australian Cricket Board |
| Cricket format | One Day International |
| Tournament format(s) | Group stage and Knockout |
| Host(s) | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Australia |
| Champions |  India |
| Participants | 7 |
| Matches played | 13 |
| Player of the series | Ravi Shastri |
| Most runs | Krishnamachari Srikkanth (238) |
| Most wickets | Laxman Sivaramakrishnan (10) |
The tournament was part of the celebrations commemorating the 150th anniversary of European settlement in Victoria. All of the then Test match playing teams participated with matches played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and the Sydney Cricket Ground. The tournament saw the first matches played under lights at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
India were the reigning World Cup holders, having defeated West Indies in the 1983 World Cup final, but the bookmakers installed West Indies as favourites.
Tournament format
Each team was required to name a 14-player squad for the tournament. Matches were played with coloured clothing, white balls, fielding restrictions and innings limited to 50 overs.
The seven teams were split into two qualifying groups. Each played a round-robin with two points awarded for a win and one point for a draw or tie. Teams on equal points were separated by run rate.
Cross-over semi finals were then played with the winner from each group playing the runner-up from the other group. The losers played in the Plate Winners Final while the winners contested the Final.
Playing squads
Australia
Allan Border (captain), Terry Alderman, Peter Faulkner, Rodney Hogg, Kim Hughes, Dean Jones, Robbie Kerr, Geoff Lawson, Rod McCurdy, Craig McDermott, Simon O'Donnell, Wayne B. Phillips, Kepler Wessels, Graeme Wood.
England
David Gower (captain), Jonathan Agnew, Norman Cowans, Chris Cowdrey, Paul Downton, Phil Edmonds, Richard Ellison, Neil Foster, Graeme Fowler, Mike Gatting, Allan Lamb, Vic Marks, Martyn Moxon, Tim Robinson.
India
Sunil Gavaskar (captain), Mohinder Amarnath, Mohammad Azharuddin, Roger Binny, Kapil Dev, Madan Lal, Chetan Sharma, Ravi Shastri, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sadanand Viswanath, Manoj Prabhakar, Ashok Malhotra.
New Zealand
Geoff Howarth (captain), John Bracewell, Lance Cairns, Ewen Chatfield, Jeremy Coney, Jeff Crowe, Martin Crowe, Richard Hadlee, Paul McEwan, John Reid, Ian Smith, Martin Snedden, John Wright.
Pakistan
Javed Miandad (captain), Anil Dalpat, Azeem Hafeez, Imran Khan, Mohsin Khan, Mudassar Nazar, Qasim Omar, Rameez Raja, Rashid Khan, Saleem Malik, Tahir Naqqash, Wasim Akram, Wasim Raja, Zaheer Abbas.
Sri Lanka
Duleep Mendis (captain), Ashantha de Mel, Somachandra de Silva, Roy Dias, Vinothen John, Uvais Karnain, Ranjan Madugalle, Arjuna Ranatunga, Rumesh Ratnayake, Ravi Ratnayeke, Amal Silva.
West Indies
Clive Lloyd (captain), Winston Davis, Jeff Dujon, Joel Garner, Larry Gomes, Roger Harper, Desmond Haynes, Michael Holding, Gus Logie, Malcolm Marshall, Thelston Payne, Viv Richards, Richie Richardson.
Tournament results
Group A
The tournament began with Australia and England playing the first ever match under lights at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, in front of a crowd of 82,494. Australia won the match by seven wickets, however neither of them would make the semi finals.
India quickly showed that it was on track to repeat its World Cup success with comfortable wins in each of its group matches, while Pakistan found a new hero in 18-year-old left-arm fast bowler Wasim Akram who took 5 for 21 against Australia.
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | L | RR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| India |
6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4.42 |
 Pakistan |
4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4.39 |
| Australia |
2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3.98 |
 England |
0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3.41 |
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- England won the toss and elected to bat.
- This was the first match played under floodlights at this venue. 82,494 people attended. [1]
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- England won the toss and elected to field.
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- Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.
Group B
Group B was slightly farcical with West Indies being comfortably the number one team in world cricket at the time and Sri Lanka being comfortably at the bottom of the list of Test nations.
The match between West Indies and New Zealand was rained off which meant that whoever was more successful in beating up on Sri Lanka would top the group. While West Indies easily accounted for Sri Lanka on the scoreboard, fast bowler Rumesh Ratnayake forced both Richie Richardson and Larry Gomes to retire with searing bouncers.
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | L | NR | RR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 West Indies |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5.87 |
 New Zealand |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4.07 |
 Sri Lanka |
0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.16 |
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- New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat.
- No play was possible due to rain.
- The 20 February reserve day was not used due to a clash in television scheduling.
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- Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field.
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- Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat.
- Match reduced to 47 overs per side each due to rain.
Semi Finals
After the group stages, the expected outcome was that 1983 World Cup finalists India and West Indies would meet again in the final of the World Championship. India held up their end of the bargain by beating New Zealand in the first semi final, however Pakistan produced the one major upset of the tournament to beat West Indies.
1st Semifinal
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- India won the toss and elected to field.
2nd Semifinal
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- West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.
Consolation Final
The third place play-off in this tournament was known as the Plate Winners Final and West Indies were indeed awarded a plate for winning the match. Geoff Howarth was nearing the end of his time as New Zealand captain and New Zealand's upcoming test and ODI tour to West Indies, which commenced later that month, would be his last series for the country. Richard Hadlee began with a spell of 2 for 8 in 6 overs. Viv Richards then hit 51 off 61 deliveries.
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- West Indies won the toss and elected to field.
Final
India got on top early in the final with Kapil Dev reducing Pakistan to 4 for 33 before Javed Miandad and Imran Khan began a rescue act after both had been controversially given not out having edged deliveries to the wicketkeeper. 19-year-old leg spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan had been a revelation during the tournament and produced another superb spell in the final. Pakistan's eventual total of 9 for 176 constituted a good recovery. It was the first time, in the tournament, that India had failed to bowl out the opposition. India bagged 49 out of a maximum possible 50 wickets in the tournament.
Indian openers Ravi Shastri and Krishnamachari Srikkanth each had wonderful tournaments and their century opening stand did most of the work for their strong batting line-up. Each were rewarded at the end of the match with Srikkanth winning the Player of the Match award and Shastri being named the player of the tournament, or as it was known, the Champion of Champions. He was awarded his prize of an Audi 100 motor car, valued at A$35,000 and immediately drove it around the MCG with his entire team sitting either in or on the car. The attendance of 35,296 in the match was the highest in Australia in a match not involving the home side.[5]
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- Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.
This was the only instance of the World Championship of Cricket. The Indian team that won the cup was adjudged by Wisden as 'The Indian Team of the Century'.[5]
References
- Wisden 1986, p. 978.
- "1st Semifinal, Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket at Sydney, March 5 1985 | Match Summary | ESPNCricinfo". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- "2nd Semifinal, Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket at Melbourne, March 6 1985 | Match Summary | ESPNCricinfo". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- "Consolation Final, Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket at Sydney, March 9 1985 | Match Summary | ESPNCricinfo". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- "Benson & Hedges Final, Melbourne, March 10, 1985 India vs Pakistan". Outlook India. Retrieved 21 October 2013.