On This Day In 1983: India Beat England To Reach Historic World Cup Final

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On This Day In 1983: India raced to their maiden World Cup final appearance by defeating England in a memorable semifinal played in Manchester, chasing down the target of 213.
On This Day In 1983: India continued their inspiring run at the 1983 Prudential World Cup with a memorable semifinal victory over England in Manchester on this day. Kapil Dev's courageous brigade overcame heavy odds staked against them and surpassed Bob Willis' experienced English side considered massive favourites to qualify for the final. Proving the pundits wrong, Kapil's men got the tri-colour flying high at Old Trafford with a brilliant allround performance.
After a magnificent turnaround in their campaign with wins over Zimbabwe and Australia that propelled them to the knock-outs stage, the Indians carried confidence and momentum to the semifinal versus the hosts.
But they were hardly given a chance to stand the English juggernaut that had the wealth of experience and understanding of the 60-over game in the early years of domestic and international limited-overs cricket.
The Englishmen were further boosted by the toss as the coin fell in their favour and Willis decided to bat first. But Kapil's Devils turned the tables on them with a spirited bowling performance. Allrounder Roger Binny (2/42) continued his magnificent form with the new ball, dismissing both of England's set openers Graeme Fowler (33) and Chris Tavaré (32).
On a day where the ball swung and seamed, India's battery of medium pacers didn't allow England's middle-order to settle down. The steady Mohinder Amarnath once again came in handy with the ball, taking 2 wickets while conceding just 27 runs off his 12 overs. Kapil then ran through the English tail in his 3 for 35 and helped dismiss the hosts for 213.
In the chase, maestro Sunil Gavaskar missed out on an opportunity to regain form as his departure for 25 off 41 broke a useful opening stand of 46 shared with the attacking Krishnamachari Srikkanth, who was out soon for 19.
India needed their middle-order to come to the fore and two senior pros Amarnath and Yashpal Sharma did not disappoint. They stitched an exceptional third-wicket stand of 92 runs to bring India's noses ahead before Amarnath was out for 46.
The solid-looking Sharma was then joined by the aggressive Sandeep Patil. Batting in contrasting fashions, the duo didn't allow the England bowling unit to create inroads until the match was sealed.
Patil went hell for leather, taking confidence from the assurance provided by the calming Sharma at the other end. The Mumbaikar hammered an unbeaten 51 off 32 balls while Sharma produced an important 61 before his wicket.
Skipper Kapil walked out and gave the strike back to Patil, witnessing the winning moment where Patil smashed Willis (1/42) to the deep mid-wicket region.
The Old Trafford crowd rushed to the ground while Kapil and Patil somehow evaded them in the most jubilant scenes that marked one of the greatest days in Indian cricket history.
First Published:
June 22, 2025, 07:20 IST

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