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The news as it happened.

India's World CupSunday, June 26, 1983Issue the Fourth

India are the champions: West Indies beaten by 43 runs

India are champions of the world: they beat the holders, the West Indies, by 43 runs in the Prudential World Cup final at Lord’s, and New Delhi celebrated with crackers, sweets and fireworks as the President and Prime Minister sent their congratulations.

The PhotographKapil Dev is presented with the Prudential World Cup by Lord Carr of Hadley, chairman of Prudential Assurance, after India’s win in the final at Lord’s, 25 June 1983.Patrick Eagar / Popperfoto via Getty Images, June 25, 1983See the photograph →

LONDON, Sunday.—India are the new champions of one-day cricket. Kapil Dev’s side won the Prudential World Cup at Lord’s yesterday, beating the holders, the West Indies, by 43 runs before a capacity crowd of 26,000.

Defending a total of 183, India had the West Indians 76 for five at tea, and the mighty Caribbean batting never found its feet again.

The sixth wicket went down at the tea score itself, when Faoud Bacchus, on eight, was caught by Syed Kirmani off Balwinder Sandhu.

When Jeff Dujon was out, the match tilted firmly towards IndiaClive Lloyd, West Indies captain

Jeff Dujon and Malcolm Marshall put up the last resistance. Dujon made 25 and Marshall 18 before Mohinder Amarnath bowled the one and had the other caught by Sunil Gavaskar.

“When Jeff Dujon was out, the match tilted firmly towards India,” said Clive Lloyd, the West Indies captain.

The last four wickets fell for 21 runs. Kapil Dev had Andy Roberts lbw for four, and Amarnath finished it by trapping Michael Holding lbw for six, leaving Joel Garner five not out. The West Indies were all out for 140 with eight overs to spare.

India’s medium pacers were the bowling heroes. Madan Lal took three wickets for 31, Amarnath three for 12 and Sandhu two for 32.

So the Cup passes from the West Indies to India.

New Straits Times (Kuala Lumpur) · The Glasgow Herald · New Straits Times (Kuala Lumpur); all June 27, 1983.

Fireworks in Delhi as President and Premier hail the team

NEW DELHI, Sunday.—Fireworks lit up several parts of the capital last night as Indians celebrated the fall of the final West Indies wicket at Lord’s.

Cricket fans across the country had been glued to television and radio sets on Saturday night as it became apparent that India could pull off a victory. When the news came that India had captured their first Prudential World Cup, overjoyed fans burned crackers and handed out sweets in the streets of New Delhi.

Today President Zail Singh and the Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi, expressed the delight of millions of Indians in messages of congratulation to the team.

a magnificent victory and by winning the world championship, we are all proud of youPresident Zail Singh, in his message to Kapil Dev

The President, in his message to the captain, Kapil Dev, called it “a magnificent victory and by winning the world championship, we are all proud of you.”

Mrs Gandhi sent the team a message of her own. “My slogan is India can do it. Thank you for living up to it,” she said.

This morning’s newspapers splashed the news across their front pages. “Caribbean giants tamed at Lord’s,” ran the headline in the Hindustan Times. The Patriot’s read: “West Indian pride humbled.”

New Straits Times (Kuala Lumpur), Reuter report · New Straits Times (Kuala Lumpur) · The Straits Times (Singapore); all June 27, 1983.

Kapil: the West Indies were too confident

The PhotographIndia captain Kapil Dev lifts the trophy on the balcony of the pavilion at Lord’s, with Sunil Gavaskar looking on, after India’s win over the West Indies in the World Cup final, 25 June 1983.Getty Images (Hulton Archive), June 25, 1983See the photograph →

LONDON, Sunday.—Kapil Dev, India’s victorious captain, said that the West Indies had been beaten by their own over-confidence.

“The West Indies were too confident. They had to get only 184, but they didn’t realise that anything can happen in one-day cricket,” he said.

Viv Richards, he thought, had been in too much of a hurry. “Richards played as though he was in a 30 overs game.”

The West Indies were too confident. They had to get only 184, but they didn't realise that anything can happen in one-day cricketKapil Dev, India captain

Neither side reached 200 in the final, and Kapil put the low scoring down to the Lord’s wicket. “There was more grass on it than I wanted and the ball was seaming about,” he said.

The Sydney Morning Herald · New Straits Times (Kuala Lumpur) · New Straits Times (Kuala Lumpur); all June 27, 1983.

Lloyd: the West Indies played like amateurs

The PhotographYashpal Sharma and Roger Binny grab souvenir stumps as Mohinder Amarnath (left) runs off and the West Indies’ Michael Holding looks on, as the crowd comes on to the field at the end of the World Cup final at Lord’s, 25 June 1983.Adrian Murrell / Allsport via Getty Images (Hulton Archive), June 25, 1983See the photograph →

LONDON, Sunday.—Clive Lloyd, captain of the beaten holders, accused his side of playing like amateurs in their surprise defeat by the outsiders, India.

“It was an amateurish performance. If you put a side in and get them out for less than 200, on a near-perfect wicket, you would expect to win,” Lloyd said.

He laid the blame squarely on his batsmen. “The batsmen tried to score too quickly. They looked as though they wanted to get it over before tea. They played some very bad shots,” he said.

It was an amateurish performance. If you put a side in and get them out for less than 200, on a near-perfect wicket, you would expect to winClive Lloyd, West Indies captain

Lloyd, who said on Friday that he was ready to step down as captain after the final, is already looking to the future. “We may have to look for a few younger players to rebuild,” he said.

New Straits Times (Kuala Lumpur) · The Sydney Morning Herald; all June 27, 1983.

In Brief

Amarnath is man of the match again

LONDON, Sunday.—Mohinder Amarnath, who took three wickets for 12, was named man of the match in the final. It is his second such award in succession, after the semi-final against England.

The Sydney Morning Herald, June 27 · The Glasgow Herald, June 27 · New Straits Times (Kuala Lumpur), June 27 · Press (Christchurch, New Zealand), June 24

Board promises India a £16,000 bonus

LONDON, Sunday.—Kapil Dev was told after the final that his team would get a £16,000 bonus from the Indian Cricket Board of Control.

New Straits Times (Kuala Lumpur), June 27, 1983.

Elsewhere Today

  • NEW DELHI: Flood officials in Gujarat count 408 bodies recovered and 355 missing as the waters recede, the Press Trust of India says. In worst-hit Junagadh district corpses were left dangling in trees, and 35,000 people have been evacuated. Mrs Gandhi is to fly over the area on Monday.

    The Glasgow Herald, June 27, 1983.

  • COLOMBO: A curfew has been reimposed on Trincomalee after fresh communal violence between Sinhalese and Tamils, the Weekend newspaper reports. It has been in force nearly continuously since early June.

    The Straits Times (Singapore), June 27, 1983.

  • TOKYO: Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone’s Liberal Democratic Party has taken a strong lead as votes are counted in today’s election for the upper house.

    The Christian Science Monitor, June 27, 1983.

  • KARACHI: A military court has sentenced seven students to a year in jail and between five and 10 lashes each for demonstrating last month against the military regime at Mehran Engineering University, AFP reports.

    The Straits Times (Singapore), June 27, 1983.

  • N’DJAMENA: The French co-operation minister, Christian Nucci, flew in unannounced and pledged support to President Hissene Habre against Libyan-backed rebels, who took Faya-Largeau 48 hours earlier and now hold a third of Chad. Direct French military intervention appeared to be ruled out.

    The Glasgow Herald, June 27, 1983.

Start India’s World Cup from issue one tomorrow

Wayback Wire · No. 4 · Sunday, June 26, 1983