Remembering India's first ever World Cup win in 1983, this day 35 years ago

A still from

the India

vs England semi-finals, World Cup 1983

India's Game #7: vs England, Semi Finals

As India faced hosts England in the semis, expectations on the minnow side had started sky-rocketing. After all, they had trumped Windies and the Aussies on separate occasions to book their place in the final four. The English were, however, no minnows by their own means, and they were looking to seal a World Cup win in their own home, after having been quite strong throughout the length of the tournament.

England won the toss, and owing to their batting strength, elected to bat first. At 69/0, openers Graeme Fowler (33 off 59) and Chris Tavare (32 off 51) had provided England a solid start, but with Tavare falling to Roger Binny, wickets started falling frequently, as his replacements failed to convert their good starts. Allan Lamb (29 off 58) provided some support in the middle overs, only to be run-out by Yashpal Sharma.

The English innings finally ended prematurely, at 213 for 10, in 60 overs. Kapil Dev was once again the pick of the bowlers, picking up three wickets for 35 runs in 11 overs.

An efficient batting display from Yashpal Sharma (61 off 115), Sandeep Patil (51 off 32) and Mohinder Amarnath (46 off 92) meant that India reached the shores of victory with four wickets and nearly six overs to spare. Mohinder Amarnath was named the player of the match for his all-round contribution, also picking up 2/27 with the ball earlier on.

The loss meant that England were out of the competition, failing to win the World Cup from home for a successive third time. The win also paved way for the possibility of Indians to face neighbours and arch-rivals Pakistan in the finals. However, it was not to be as the Paks were defeated by a stellar performance form the Windies, as the stage was set for a third India-Windies contest, in the same World Cup.