History(1987)

This was the fourth World Cup event (called the Reliance Cup) and was held from October 8 to November 8, 1987 in India and Pakistan - the first held outside England. The different stadiums in India and Pakistan were venues for the 27 matches played by 8 teams. It was the first World Cup to feature neutral umpires. All the matches were played during the day. The format was unchanged from previous World Cups, except for a reduction in the number of overs a team played from 60 to 50. The first hat-trick at the World Cup was by Indian Chetan Sharma in a game against New Zealand in 1987 The various venues that hosted the Cricket World Cup 1987 matches were Niaz stadiums in Hyderabad, MA Chidambaram Stadium at Chennai, Municipal Stadium at Gujranwala in Pakistan, Pindi Club Ground at Rawalpindi in Pakistan, National stadiums at Karachi in Pakistan, M.Chinnaswamy Stadium at Bangalore, Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Wankhede Stadium at Mumbai, Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar, Nehru Stadium at Indore, Green Park Stadium at Kanpur, Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi, Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad, Gujarat Stadium in Ahmedabad, Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, Nehru stadium in Pune and Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground in Nagpur. It was debut performance of two players Navjot Singh Sidhu of India and Tom Moody of Australia. Like other tournaments, the 1987 World cup also set many records. G A Gooch of England scored 471 runs in the 8 matches and set the record for the Highest Run-scorer. IVA Richards of West Indies scored 181 runs and became the player to achieve the record of Highest Individual Score. CJ McDermott of Australia took 18 wickets and set the record of the Highest Wicket-taker. The final was played between Australia and England at the Eden Gardens stadium in Calcutta, India. Australia made 253 in their 50 overs with a loss of 5 wickets. In reply, England came up just short, making 246 in their 50 overs for a loss of 8 wickets. Australia won by 7 runs. Scores: Australia 253/5 off 50 overs (DC Boon 75); England 246/8 off 50 overs (CWJ Athey 58). Australia won by 7 runs. Summary of 1987 World Cup Tournament formats - Round robin and Knockout Host - India and Pakistan Champions - Australia (1st title) Participants - 8 Matches played - 15 Most runs - Graham Gooch (471) Most wickets - Craig McDermott (18) Player of the Match: DC Boon (Australia).