London: On this day, 45 years ago, India took on England in the first-ever men’s World Cup match played at Lord’s here. India, led by spin great Srinivas Venkataraghavan, lost to England by a whopping 202 runs.
England had scored 334/4 in 60 overs and in reply, India could only manage 132/3 as batsmen like Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath failed to get going.
For England, Dennis Amiss played a knock of 137 off just 108 balls as Syed Abid Ali took two wickets for India.
The 1975 World Cup was won by the West Indies as they defeated Australia in the final of the tournament. The Clive Lloyd-led side also won the 1979 World Cup.
The mighty Windies lost the final of the 1983 edition after coming up short against India.
So far there have been 12 editions of the men’s ODI World Cup. Australia has managed to win the tournament maximum number of times (five).
India won the World Cup again in 2011 on home soil. In 2019, England lifted the World Cup for the first time, also at home.
IANS