The 1987 World Cup was for the first time held outside England and jointly hosted by India and Pakistan. The mega event also saw some more rule changes - overs were reduced to 50 instead of the previous 60, there were neutral umpires and even attempts were made to stage a third place play-off between India and Pakistan but the players demanded more money.
India lost the opener against Australia in a nail-biting contest by one run but still managed to finish ahead of the latter in Group A on a superior run-rate. New Zealand, without Richard Hadlee, were second-last in the group with their only win coming against Zimbabwe, who lost all their matches. Pakistan were very dominant in Group B and England without David Gower and Ian Botham had to battle their way to the next stage.
The biggest upset of the tournament came with West Indies failing to make the semi-finals for the first time. Courtney Walsh had a terrible time with the ball and he got plenty of flak from the media.
In the first semis, Australia scored fluently, with David Boon (65) top scoring and putting an important 82-run second-wicket partnership with Dean Jones. Imran Khan’s 3 for 17 runs in 5 overs restricted the Aussies to 267. Pakistan started badly and was reduced to 38 for 3 before Imran Khan (58) and Javed Miandad (70) shared a partnership of 112 runs in 26 overs. However, with the required run rate creeping up to over 7 runs, Miandad fell and the remaining six wickets could only manage 99 as they were bowled all out for 249 in 49 overs.
Then on a tricky Bombay wicket hosts India slipped after Graham Gooch (115) and Mike Gatting (52) piled up 117 runs in 19 overs using the sweep shot to good effect. A target of 254 was a bit too much for India and their wheels came apart after Mohammad Azharuddin was dismissed lbw by Eddie Hemmings. India were at 204 for 5. Despite having five wickets in hand and needing just five runs an over, the middle order and tail-enders failed to show any spine and India folded for 219 in 45.3 overs.
In the finals, David Boon top-scored for Australia with 75 and they posted 253 for 5 in 50 overs. In the English reply, opener Tim Robinson was bowled for a first-ball duck. Bill Athey (58) and captain Mike Gatting (41) put England on course for the target. Allan Lamb (45) also played a fine knock but the run rate began to rise. England couldn’t get the 17 runs from the final over and Australia clinched their first World Cup.
