In the 1970s and 1980s, West Indies were almost indomitable. If Clive Lloyd build a champion side, Viv Richards carried on the good work as West Indies remained unbeaten in Test series from 1980 to 1995. Mid-90s onwards, the side witnessed a steep fall. Yes, there was Brian Lara and then Chris Gayle, but the outfit once known to be world-beaters were reduced to a bunch of entertainers who relied more on occasional brilliances. However, things seem to be changing. In this decade, West Indies have won four world titles and three in 2016. We do not know yet if West Indies cricket will get better in the long-term or not but what certainly it is having its time under the sun at the moment. Suvajit Mustafi looks at the 7 ICC Trophy wins by West Indies.
1. World Cup 1975
It was a golden age in West Indies cricket and they could do no wrong. Clive Lloyd had built a side of match-winners. West Indies, the pre-tournament favourites, only enhanced their reputation by winning all three group games, beating New Zealand in the semi-final and then going on to lift the inaugural cricket World Cup.
The final was played between West Indies and all-time favorites Australia at Lord’s. It was captain Lloyd who rose to the occasion, making it big by scoring 102 from 82 balls (remember, it was 1975!) to help West Indies to reach 291.
Rohan Kanhai chipped in with 55 along with unsung hero Keith Boyce who scored a crucial 34 and picked four wickets. A 23-year-old Viv Richards affected three run outs. West Indies won the close fought contest by 17 runs.
Brief scores in Final:
West Indies 291 for 8 in 60 overs (Clive Lloyd 102, Rohan Kanhai 55; Keith Boyce 34; Gary Gilmour 5-48) bt Australia 274 in 58.4 overs (Alan Turner 40, Ian Chappell 62, Doug Walter 35; Keith Boyce 4-50) by 17 runs
Once again, West Indies were the side yetto beat. They again remained unbeaten once in the group stage and faced a stiff fight from Pakistan in the semis. They entered the final and did no harm to their ‘favourite’ tag. This time, they beat England to lift the trophy. The final was a Richards’ spectacle as he smashed an unbeaten 138 which took West Indies to 286.
However, it was Collis King’s hurricane 66-ball 86 that gave the innings the required momentum. Joel Garner picked a fifer and it was an easy 92-run victory for the West Indies.
Brief scores in Final:
West Indies 286 for 9 in 60 overs (Viv Richards 138*, Collis King 86; Phil Edmonds 2-40) bt England 194 in 51 overs (Mike Brearley 64, Geoffrey Boycott 57, Graham Gooch 32; Joel Garner 5-38, Collin Croft 3-42) by 92 runs
3. ICC Champions Trophy 2004
In every tournament in 2000s, Australia entered as favourites but hosts England got the better of them in the semi-final. Despite a bunch of talented crop coming up, West Indies cricket was going through a rough patch. They were struggling in Test cricket barring a few individual brilliance like Lara’s 400 earlier that year. In ODIs, they were a better unit but no way they were the favorites. They were in Group B alongside South Africa and Bangladesh. Bangladesh were beaten by both the strong sides and the match between South Africa and West Indies proved to be a virtual quarter-final.
Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul guided them to a thrilling win. The semi-final hurdle against Pakistan was an easy one. And the final at The Oval, against host nation England, was a thrilling affair. Marcus Trescothick’s 104 took England to a respectable score of 217 which proved challenging later on. Brian Lara, Chris Gayle and Sarwan departed cheaply and when West Indies were reduced to 147 for 8 in the 34th over, England sniffed their first ever major ICC title win. It was a matter of time.
What followed was something unbelievable. Wicketkeeper Courtney Browne and left-arm seamer Ian Bradshaw stitched a crucial 71 for the ninth wicket to guide West Indies home in the 49th over. It was a proud moment for captain Lara, one of the greatest cricketers ever. West Indies won a major trophy after 25 long years and The Oval witnessed surreal scenes.
Brief scores in Final:
England 217 in 49.4 overs (Marcus Trescothick 104, Ashley Giles 31; Wavell Hinds 3-24, Ian Bradshaw 2-54) lost to West Indies 218 for 8 in 48.5 overs (Shivnarine Chanderpaul 47, Courtney Browne 35*, Ian Bradshaw 34*; Andrew Flintoff 3-38, Steve Harmisson 2-34, Paul Collingwood 2-22) by two wickets
By now, Twenty20 format had taken the cricket world by a storm. West Indies did not start the tournament as favorites but they surely seemed threatened. The side featured several match-winners playing in T20 leagues round the globe. Many from the side were stars for their respective franchises in leagues around the world. The likes of Gayle, Bravo, Sunil Narine were game changers in their own rights. Despite scoring 191 against Australia, they ended up on a losing note, thanks to Duckworth-Lewis method for rain-effected ties. Even their game against Ireland was washed out. They managed only a point and qualified to Super 8 as they had a superior net run-rate in comparison to Ireland.
They beat England, lost to host Sri Lanka and were involved in a tie against New Zealand. The extras bowled by Tim Southee in the Super Over hurt the Kiwis as West Indies plundered 19 runs off it to win the tie. They met Australia in the semi-final and it was a Gayle show as West Indies won by 74 runs.
The final was a different story. West Indies were struggling against the home team Sri Lanka at 14 for 2 in the 6th over when Marlon Samuels scripted one of the greatest T20 knocks to bail the side out. He smacked the best T20 bowler, Lasith Malinga for five sixes as West Indies finished with 137. It was up to Narine then, as Sri Lanka folded for 101. Later Narine tightened the screws and bundled out Sri Lanka for 101.
What followed were celebrations, Gangnam Style.
Brief scores in Final:
West Indies 137 for 6 in 20 overs (Marlon Samuels 78, Darren Sammy 26*; Ajantha Mendis 4-12) bt Sri Lanka 101 in 18.4 overs (Mahela Jayawardene 33, Nuwan Kulasekara 26; Sunil Narine 3-9, Darren Sammy 2-6) by 36 runs
5. ICC Under-19 World Cup 2016
From Mankading to qualify in next round to winning the title, the young West Indies side created a lot of headlines earlier this year during the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2016. Poor performances of the senior West Indies side in Sri Lanka and Australia, and their failure to qualify for Champions Trophy 2017, was heavily criticized and the looming of threat of dismantling of West Indies hovered.
The young men however were undeterred and displayed an ice-cool approach in the tournament to pull off a win that inspired the islands to what followed in weeks to come.
In the group stages, they lost to England and won a thriller against Zimbabwe when Keemo Paul Mankaded the last batsman sparking a raging controversy on the spirit of the game violation.
They met India in the final, which was the best team in the tournament, till then under the guidance of legend Rahul Dravid.
West Indies bowled them out for 145 and the star for them once again was Alzarri Joseph, who claimed 3 for 39 and dismantled the Indian top-order. India fought back hard with Sarfaraz Khan’s half century but West Indies pulled off a five-wicket victory in the last over. Keacy Carty was unbeaten on 52. Shimron Hetmyer became the first West Indian skipper to lift the Under-19 World Cup title.
Brief scores in Final:
India 145 in 45.1 overs (Sarfaraz Khan 51; Alzarri Joseph 3-39, Ryan John 3-38, Keemo Paul 2-17) lost to West Indies 146 for 5 in 49.3 overs (Keacy Carty 52*, Keemo Paul 40*; Mayank Dagar 3-25) by five wickets
6. ICC Women’s World T20 2016
The talks centred around New Zealand, England and Australia as usual and with Indian Women were seen as the dark horse as the conditions favoured them. England and New Zealand topped their respective groups with four out of four wins and West Indies finished second in Group B with three wins and a loss.
In the semi-final, West Indies beat New Zealand by six runs to march to the final where they faced Australia at Eden Gardens. The Aussie Women posted 148, which seemed match winning at one point. No team had scored more runs to chase and win a game in India.
West Indies openers Hayley Matthews and Stephanie Taylor took the responsibility and scripted a record chase as the side won with three balls to spare. The 18-year-old Hayley was adjudged the Player of the Match while the 24-year-old captain Stefanie was awarded the Player of the Series. West Indies Women won their first world title and later that day, it was time for the men’s final.
Brief scores in Final:
Australia Women 148 for 5 in 20 overs (Elyse Villani 52, Meg Lanning 52, Ellyse Perry 28; Deandra Dottin 2-33) lost to West Indies Women 149 for 2 in 19.3 overs (Hayley Matthews 66, Stefanie Taylor 59) by eight wickets
Amidst pull-outs from key players like Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine, contract dispute and rift with the cricket board, there was a looming threat over West Indies’ participation in the mega-event. Worse, the Gayle controversy in Australia and Mark Nicholas’ ‘brainless’ comment did no good to the side that won the trophy in 2012.
Darren Sammy and his men had a task of restoring faith of fans in West Indies cricket. The extremely popular franchise cricketers enjoyed an enormous support in India, as they trumped England, Sri Lanka and South Africa to top their group. Though they managed to beat all the top sides, their only hiccup came against Afghanistan, a game they ended up losing.
West Indies were up against the favorites India in the semi-final but they chased down 193, courtesy a lucky Lendl Simmons hurricane 82 not out, which was well supported by Johnson Charles’ 52 and Andre Russell’s 20-ball 43 not out.
The final against England at Eden Gardens swung like a pendulum where England recovered from early hiccups to dominate the major part of the match. Sammy won his 10th consecutive toss and put England into bat. The West Indies Women’s victory earlier in the day, at the same venue had clearly lifted their spirits. From 23 for 3 in the fifth over, England recovered to 155 and had West Indies 11 for 3 in the third over.
For the second time in a World Cup final, the crisis man from Jamaica rose to the occasion. Marlon Samuels held the innings together with a fine 85 not out and when the side needed 19 from the final over, Ben Stokes was asked to bowl. The English all-rounder, who bowled brilliantly at the death against New Zealand in the semi-final, was hit for four consecutive sixes by Carlos Brathwaite as West Indies raced to a four-wicket win.
Brief scores in Final
England 155 for 9 in 20 overs (Joe Root 54, Jos Buttler 36; Samuel Badree 2-16, Dwayne Bravo 3-37, Carlos Brathwaite 2-23) lost to West Indies 161 for 6 in 19.4 overs (Marlon Samuels 85*, Carlos Brathwaite 34*; David Willey 3-20, Joe Root 2-9) by four wickets
(Suvajit Mustafi consumes cricket for lunch, fiction for dinner and munches numerous other snacks throughout the day. Yes, a jack of several trades, all Suvajit dreamt of was being India’s World Cup winning skipper but ended up being a sports writer, author, screenwriter, director, copywriter, graphic designer, sports marketer, strategist, entrepreneur, philosopher and traveller. Donning so many hats, it’s cricket which gives him the ultimate high and where he finds solace. He can be followed at @RibsGully and rivu7)
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