World Cup 1975: Teams, summary, winner, most runs and wickets

The first World Cup, sponsored by Prudential Assurance Company, was played in 1975 in England, two years after the first Women’s World Cup. The six Test-playing nations – England, Australia, West Indies, New Zealand, India, and Pakistan – all participated, along with Sri Lanka. An eighth team, consisting of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia, combined to play as East Africa.

The eight teams were split into two groups, and matches were played in a round-robin league format. The six traditional English venues – Lord’s, The Oval, Headingley, Trent Bridge, Old Trafford, and Edgbaston – were used for the matches. The top two teams from each group qualified for the semi-final.

England and West Indies topped their groups, with New Zealand and Australia coming second respectively. England beat India by 198 runs in the first ever World Cup match; India’s chase involved a curious unbeaten 36 by Sunil Gavaskar, off 174 balls. In the other group, Deryck Murray and Andy Roberts added 64 for the last wicket to win the help West Indies beat Pakistan.

West Indies beat New Zealand and Australia beat England in the semi-finals to meet in the final at Lord’s, which West Indies won by 17 runs.

Semi-final 1, Headingley, June 18: England 93 in 36.2 overs (Denness 27; Gilmour 6/14, Walker 3/22) lost to Australia 94/6 in 28.4 overs (Gilmour 28*; Old 3/29, Snow 2/30) by 4 wickets. Man of the Match: Gary Gilmour.

Semi-final 2, The Oval, June 18: New Zealand 158 in 52.2 overs (Howarth 51, Turner 36; Julien 4/27, Vanburn Holder 3/30) lost to West Indies 159/5 in 40.1 overs (Kallicharran 72, Greenidge 55; Collinge 3/28) by 5 wickets. Man of the Match: Alvin Kallicharran.

Final, Lord’s, June 25: West Indies 291/8 in 60 overs (Lloyd 102, Kanhai 55, Boyce 34; Gilmour 5/48, Thomson 2/44) beat Australia 274 in 58.4 overs (I Chappell 62, Turner 40, Walters 35; Boyce 4/50) by 17 runs. Man of the Match: Clive Lloyd.

Most runs: Glenn Turner (New Zealand) – 333 runs, 4 matches
Most wickets: Gary Gilmour (Australia) – 11 wickets, 2 matches