In one of my blogs earlier, I have described how Clive Lloyd managed to win a match inspite of dropping catch.
In this incident, Kapil defies Lloyd's rule to take a remarkable catch that ensured that the World Cup was pocketed with that catch.
Prologue:
Earlier in the World Cup the over confident Windies had lost a match to India in league match. They were aware of what Indian underdogs were capable of. So in the second round of league matches, they were well prepared and had thrashed India; with Viv Richards scoring a century.
The teams remained unchanged (as it used to be the case in those days) and Windies faced India for one more time in the finals in World Cup 1983.
It all seemed once sided affair until the end of first innings where Windies let Indians make only 183 runs, not allowing them to bat all of their 60 overs. The task was cut clear for Windies. Blavinder Singh Sandhu managed to get the opener Greenidge cheaply for 1 run when scoreboard read the score of 5. It was a good start for India, but Viv Richards who followed in at no 3 was wrecking havoc having scored 33 off 26 odd balls including 7 fours. the game was quickly running away towards Windies' hat-trick of championships.
The Incident:
But fate had a different say and Viv Richards mistimed a pull off Madan Lal. It would have landed safely but for Kapil Dev who ran 20 yards backwards away from wicket, keeping his eyes on the ball till the end and pouching it just in time. He had not only caught Viv Richards, he had caught the World Cup. This catch is still deemed one of the best catches and most definitely the important catches in cricketing history.
Epilogue:
None of the batsmen to follow could manage to score at the required pace and/or stay long at crease. Eventually, they were bowled out in 52 overs at a paltry score of 142. The Indian Lions had risen. They made their mark all across the World for next 4 years.
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