How often do you see a toss playing a decisive role in shaping the outcome of a match? Well, many a times I suppose. The flip of the coin becomes a big factor, especially when the wicket has something in it for the fast bowlers early on. West Indies skipper Clive Lloyd won one such important toss and asked India to bat first in the opening match of the 1979 World Cup at Birmingham.
The move was hardly surprising as Clive Lloyd had a fearsome four-pronged pace attack at its disposal – Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Colin Croft. And his bowlers made the most of the early moisture in the wicket, and their initial hostility was rewarded when Roberts dislodged Sunil Gavaskar early, a blow from which India never recovered. West Indies maintained their vice-like grip on the Indian batsmen as Michael Holding, who was bowling a magnificent spell from one end, got rid of Anshuman Gaekwad and Dilip Vengsarkar.
It was left to Gundappa Viswanath to trigger a turnaround. Viswanath, who had essayed some robust performances against the West Indies in the longer version of the game, came into his own in the shorter version as well, even as Indian innings looked like disintegrating thick and fast.
Armed with a reputation for coming up with special knocks when the going is tough, the wristy right-hander once showed his value to the side blunting the West Indies pace fury and holding the Indian innings together.
The West Indies bowlers resorted to the short-pitch stuff but Viswanath was equal to the task, handling them with aplomb. His 158-minute vigil at the wicket may have kept West Indies at bay but he sorely lacked support from the other end as wickets continue to tumble at regular intervals. He added 35 runs for the sixth wicket with Kapil Dev but beyond that he wasn’t able to stitch any partnerships of substance.
His presence in the middle was significant in India reaching a score of 190. He was the ninth batsmen to be dismissed for 75 to become Holding’s fourth scalp of the day. His solid 75 of 134 balls was studded with seven fours.
The last pair of Srinivas Venkataraghvan and Bishen Singh Bedi probably taught the top-order a lesson or two, culling 27 runs after India were 163 for 9.
Gordon Greenidge gave Windies a robust start in pursuit of 191 for victory. Greenidge didn’t allow India any window of opportunity to mount a comeback after their dismal batting show.
Together with Desmond Haynes, he raised an opening stand of 138 before Kapil trapped the latter in front. Greenidge’s authoritative batting demoralized the Indian bowlers leaving the latter resigned to their fate. Vivian Richards joined in the fun as West Indies romped home with more than eight overs to spare.
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