1975: West Indies v Australia, London:
Lord's in brilliant sunshine on the longest day of the summer provided the perfect backdrop for a match still considered the best one-day international ever staged.
Clive Lloyd led a young West Indies side containing a great figure from the memorable 1960s side in Rohan Kanhai and others who were to become household names in Viv Richards and Andy Roberts.
Ian Chappell was in charge of a aggressively confident team who had destroyed England during the Australian summer through the speed and ferocity of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson.
Chappell put West Indies in and was soon rewarded when Roy Fredericks slipped on to his stumps after hooking Lillee for six. Lloyd came in with the score on 50 for three and the Australia fast bowlers in full cry. Tall, stooped and powerful, Lloyd hooked Lillee for six, drove Max Walker for four and raced to 102 with 14 boundaries in a total of 291 from 60 overs.
Australia made a spirited reply with Chappell clubbing 62 but they kept losing wickets to runouts, three to the electric young Antiguan Richards. Lillee and Thomson came together at the fall of the ninth wicket with 59 needed from seven overs. They were only 18 short when Thomson became the fifth runout victim as the crowd invaded the ground.
Result: West Indies 291 for eight, 60 overs (Clive Lloyd 102, Rohan Kanhai 55); Australia 274, 58.4 overs (Ian Chappell 62 not out). West Indies won by 17 runs.
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1979: West Indies v England, London:
West Indies were at their peak with an all-conquering pace attack and Richards without peer as a destructive batsman.
Collis King set the tone with a brutally effective 86 after West Indies had lost early wickets and Richards completed the job with 138 not out, including a six over square leg with the last ball of the innings.
Chasing 287 to win, captain Mike Brearley (64) and Geoff Boycott (57) put on 129 for the first wicket but scored far too slowly. The giant Joel Garner scythed through the rest of the batting with high speed yorkers delivered from a great height.
Result: West Indies 286-9, 60 overs (Viv Richards 138 not out, Collis King 86); England 194, 51 overs (Mike Brearley 64, Geoff Boycott 57, Joel Garner 5-38). West Indies won by 92 runs.
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1983: India v West Indies, London:
Nobody gave India any chance against West Indies, still the best side in the world by some distance in both forms of cricket.
India's total of 183 seemed barely adequate and Richards set off as if he planned to win the match on his own. He had reached 33 when he attempted to hoist Madan Lal over the square leg boundary and India's 24-year-old captain Kapil Dev took a remarkable catch running backwards.
Lloyd, batting with a runner after straining a groin muscle, made only eight and the rest of the batting fell away.
Result: India 183, 54.4 overs (Krishna Srikkanth 38); West Indies 140, 52 overs. India won by 43 runs.
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1987: Australia v England, Calcutta:
Australia, anchored by the tough Tasmanian David Boon, compiled a respectable 253 for five with everybody contributing.
England were well-placed at 135 for two when captain Mike Gatting played his infamous reverse sweep to opposite number Allan Border's first ball. He was caught for 41 and Australia went on to win a tense match by seven runs with Steve Waugh, as a bowler, showing his customary steely composure under pressure.
Result: Australia 253-5, 50 overs (David Boon 75); England 246 (Bill Athey 58). Australia won by seven runs.
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1992: Pakistan v England, Melbourne:
Imran Khan had come out of retirement for the final time to lead a team who were woefully under-performing. Urged by Imran to fight like "cornered tigers", Pakistan reached the final against a highly professional England outfit under Graham Gooch.
Imran, Pakistan's greatest all rounder, combined with their finest batsman Javed Miandad in a third-wicket partnership of 139. Then Wasim Akram, Imran's protege, produced a devastating spell of left-arm fast bowling to tear through the England batting.
Result: Pakistan 249-6, 50 overs (Imran Khan 72, Javed Miandad 58); England 227, 49.2 overs (Neil Fairbrother 62). Pakistan won by 22 runs.
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1996: Sri Lanka v Australia, Lahore:
Sri Lanka had transformed the one-day game with their savage yet controlled hitting in the first 15 overs on slow sub-continent pitches before the fielding restrictions were lifted.
In the final, their spinners restricted Australia to 241 for seven and although opener Sanath Jayasuriya was run out for nine before he could launch his customary charge, Aravinda de Silva confirmed he was a batsman of the highest class with 107 not out.
Captain Arjuna Ranatunga contributed an unbeaten 47 in an ultimately comfortable win, all the more satisfying as Australia had refused to play a group match in Colombo after a bomb blast before the tournament killed at least 90 people.
Result: Australia 241-7, 50 overs (Mark Taylor 74); Sri Lanka 245-3, 46.2 overs (Aravinda de Silva 107 not out). Sri Lanka won by seven wickets.
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1999: Australia v Pakistan, London
After the excitement of the semi-final tie between Steve Waugh's Australians and South Africa, the final proved monotonously one-sided.
Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne at their best helped dismiss Pakistan for only 132. Adam Gilchrist struck 50 from 33 balls and the match was over after barely 4-1/2 hours.
Result: Pakistan 132, 39 overs (Shane Warne 4-33); Australia 133-2, 20.1 overs (Adam Gilchrist 54). Australia won by eight wickets.
