Recap: 1979 Cricket World Cup

In 1979, the Cricket World Cup was back in England for the second time. In this tournament, there were eight teams divided into two groups with the top two teams from each group qualifying for the semi-finals.

1979 saw the debut of Canada in the tournament. Group A comprised of Australia, England, Pakistan and Canada and Group B comprised of India, West Indies, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. England and Pakistan from Group A and West Indies and New Zealand from Group B qualified for the semi-finals. Pakistan became the first Asian team to qualify for the semi-finals of the World Cup.

In the semi-finals, West Indies defeated Pakistan by 43 runs thereby ending Pakistans's dream run in the tournament and England defeated New Zealand by nine runs to make it to the final. This was New Zealand's second straight defeat in the semi-finals of the World Cup.

The finals saw West Indies defeat England by 92 runs to lift their second World Cup trophy. Again the finals saw a West Indies player score a century. This time it was Viv Richards who had scored 138*.

Some of the key stats from the tournament are mentioned below.

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Batting performances:

293/6 by West Indies against Pakistan is the highest team total in the 1979 World Cup.

253 runs scored by Gordon Greenidge of West Indies is the most number of runs scored by a player in the 1979 World Cup.

138* scored by Viv Richards against England in the finals is the highest individual score by a player in the tournament.

2 centuries were scored in the 1979 World Cup. These were scored by Viv Richards (138*) and Gordon Greenidge (106*).

2 half-centuries scored by Gordon Greenidge of West Indies, Asif Iqbal and Majid Khan of Pakistan, Mike Brearley and Graham Gooch of England is the most number of half-centuries scored by a player in the 1979 World Cup.

Bowling performances:

10 wickets taken by Mike Hendrick of England is the most number of wickets taken by a player in the 1979 World Cup.

5/21 by Alan Hurst of Australia against Canada is the best bowling performance by a player in the 1979 Cricket World Cup.

2 five-wicket hauls were taken in the 1979 World Cup. These were taken by Alan Hurst of Australia (5/21) and Joel Garner of West Indies (5/38).

Wicketkeeping performances:

7 dismissals (Ct - 7) by Deryck Murray of West Indies is the most number of dismissals by a wicket-keeper in the 1979 World Cup.

3 dismissals by Deryck Murray of West Indies against Pakistan and by Warren Lees of New Zealand against India is the most dismissals by a wicket-keeper in an innings in the 1979 World Cup.

Fielding performances:

4 catches taken by Asif Iqbal of Pakistan, Alvin Kallicharran of West Indies and Mike Brearley of England each is the most number of catches taken by a player in the 1979 World Cup.