The 1979 World Cup was again in England, but the second edition saw the introduction of a qualifying tournament which allowed the participation of non-Test playing nations Canada and Sri Lanka.
Australia, who had made it to the finals of the inaugural event, had dented their chances sevrely ahead of the tournament as they missed the services of some of their best players who were contracted to Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket.
Defending champions West Indies just didn’t take the foot off the paddle and topped the group stages with two wins. The only century in the group stages came from Gordon Greenidge, an unbeaten 106 for Windies against India at Edgbaston.
The biggest upset was created by Sri Lanka, who shocked India by 47 runs at Old Trafford. The Kiwis managed to register victories against India and Sri Lanka and even ended up giving West Indies some scare at Trent Bridge.
England got very little resistance from the depleted Australia and Canada were simply no match as they folded for a mere 45. England then got the better of Pakistan, who had qualified for the semis with wins against Australia and Canada, in a low-scoring match at Headingley that the hosts won by 14 runs.
In the semis, England rode on knocks from Mike Brearley (53) and Graham Gooch (71) to post 221 against New Zealand. John Wright kept the Kiwis on course with 69 off 137 balls but his team lost their way once he was run out. New Zealanders’ final hopes fell short by nine runs.
In the second semis at the Oval, West Indies piled 293 for six against Pakistan. However, they were given a scare by Majid Khan (81) and Zaheer Abbas (93) with an exceptional stand of 166. However, Viv Richards swung the match back in favour of the Windies by showing his magic with the ball. Three wickets for 52 and Windies were back in the final.
In the final, Richards’ century and Collis King’s breathtaking innings of 86 off 66 balls (laced with 10 fours and three sixes) saw the Windies post a mammoth 286 for nine. In reply, England’s openers put on 129 – but Brearley (64) Boycott (57) chewed up 130 and 103 balls, respectively. From 183 for two, England folded for 194 as Joel Garner created havoc with five for 38 as Windies clinched their second successive title.
