WaybackWire

MANCHESTER, Wednesday.—England came to Old Trafford expecting to meet the West Indies in Saturday’s final. Instead they are out, beaten by the side their own captain had warned would raise its game.

On the eve of the match Bob Willis had said: “India will raise their game. It’s a big opportunity for them, they have never got anywhere near a semi-final before.”

His players had breathed a sigh of relief on Monday when they learned they would face India rather than Australia. Second favourites for the Cup at 7-4, they trained in temperatures touching the 70s at Old Trafford on Tuesday afternoon.

Graham Dilley, his thigh strain cleared, returned in place of Norman Cowans, and England went back to the side that played their first five qualifying games.

To Scyld Berry, the Glasgow Herald’s cricket correspondent, the defeat was “the greatest and most hurtful surprise of this World Cup”. He put it down to complacency, a failure to appreciate India’s quality, and slow medium-pace bowling on a slow pitch.

Berry wondered, too, whether this had been Willis’s last act on the field as England captain.

LONDON, Wednesday.—India went into the semi-final as 14-1 outsiders. Before this year they had won only one match in the two previous World Cups, in 1975 and 1979.

This time they announced themselves on the opening day, beating the holders, West Indies, by 34 runs. On Monday at Chelmsford they reached the semi-finals for the first time, beating Australia by 118 runs.

That was a recovery as much as a win. From 65 for three India made 247 all out, Yashpal Sharma top-scoring with 40, and Roger Binny then took four for 29. Binny now has 15 wickets in the tournament.

The England captain, Bob Willis, had no doubt where their strength lay when he spoke on the eve of the semi-final: “They are an improving side having beaten both West Indies and Australia. They bat way down the order and are a good fielding side. They also have an inspirational leader in Kapil with both the bat and ball.”

LONDON, Wednesday.—The holders, West Indies, beat Pakistan by eight wickets in the other semi-final at The Oval today, with Viv Richards man of the match.

Pakistan made 184 for eight in their 60 overs, Mohsin Khan scoring 70, Zaheer Abbas 30 and Imran Khan 17. Malcolm Marshall laid the foundation with a burst of three wickets for 3 runs in 14 balls against the middle order, finishing with 12-2-28-3, and Andy Roberts took two.

West Indies were 56 for two when Richards and Larry Gomes came together. They put an end to Pakistan with an unbroken stand of 132, Richards 80 not out with eleven fours and a six, Gomes 50 not out. The Evening Times in Glasgow called Richards’s innings “another magnificent display of batting”.

Clive Lloyd had urged his side to prove that their one and only slip in three competitions was well behind them. They had won five in a row since, and Pakistan had beaten them only once in 11 one-day internationals before today.

Imran had held out hope before the match. “The hardest part was getting to the semi-finals. Now it is a one-off situation and who knows what can happen in a one-day game?” the Pakistan captain said.

JOHANNESBURG, Wednesday.—Clive Lloyd, the West Indies captain, has vehemently denied a Johannesburg Sunday newspaper report that he has agreed to join a rebel West Indian team on its second visit to South Africa later this year. He is considering legal action.

The report named Lloyd, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding and Malcolm Marshall, all four playing for West Indies in the World Cup. Speaking from Birmingham to the Rand Daily Mail, Lloyd said: “It seems quite obvious that some people are trying to discredit me.”

He added: “It seems as if this is a case of kite-flying in order to possibly influence some other West Indian players to consider South African offers.”

The South African cricket chief, Mr Joe Pamensky, who is in London, told The Citizen that Lloyd would not be on a team touring South Africa next season. He called the story “unadulterated rubbish”.

The first rebel West Indian tour earlier this year caused international uproar, and its 17 players were banned for life from the game at home.