World Cup 1979: Teams, summary, winner, most runs and wickets

By the time the 1979 World Cup turned up, the tournament was no longer a novelty. Everyone knew what it was all about, and there was genuine excitement surrounding it. John Wright, in a piece in ESPNCricinfo, said it was all about having fun. “In 1979, it was more like enjoying ourselves. No build-up as far as I can recall. We just played as well as we could. It was great to be a part of an idea of a world event.”

As it turned out, not much was different. West Indies, led by Clive Lloyd, won the tournament a second time. They beat England in the final at Lord’s, with Vivian Richards gracing the occasion with his immaculate presence – his unbeaten century helped West Indies post 286/9, and the home side fell short of that by a massive 92 runs, their batsmen unable to contain Joel Garner, who returned 5/38. 

The tournament also had Sri Lanka playing their first World Cup, after winning the inaugural ICC Trophy. There was also the controversy surrounding Australia, who selected a largely unknown squad, as their best players were already contracted to Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket. It meant Australia won just one match in the tournament, against Canada. 

Pakistan and New Zealand were impressive too, with both sides making the semi-final. All in all, it was a fine tournament.

Semi-final 1, Manchester, June 20: England 221/8 in 60 overs (Brearley 53, Gooch 71; McKechnie 2/46) beat New Zealand 212/9 in 60 overs (Wright 69, Turner 30; Hendrick 3/55) by 9 runs. 

Semi-final 2, The Oval, June 20: West Indies 293/6 in 60 overs (Greenidge 73, Haynes 65; Iqbal 4/56) beat Pakistan 250 in 56.2 overs (Majid Khan 81, Zaheer Abbas 93; Croft 3/29, Richards 3/52) by 43 runs.

Final, Lord’s, June 23: West Indies 286/9 in 60 overs (Richards 138, King 86; Edmonds 2/40) beat England 194 in 51 overs (Brearley 64, Boycott 57; Garner 5/38, Croft 3/42) by 92 runs.

Most runs: Gordon Greenidge (West Indies) – 253 runs, 4 matches
Most wickets: Mike Hendrick (England) – 10 wickets, 5 matches