FINAL--->          MATCH REPORT         SCORE CARD          AFTER THE MATCH

The writing on the wall was clear all along. But since India did not have a reputation of having done well in the earlier editions, the challenge from it was ignored by the pundits of the game. Forget the final. The Indians, as things later unfolded, were to cause a double upset that June. India was placed in Group B along with favourites, West Indies, Australia and the ICC Trophy Champions, Zimbabwe. It had already made history in the course of playing the league fixtures by becoming the first team to beat the West Indies in any World Cup match since 1975. That achievement itself was worth writing about in letters of gold. Writing? The best brains simply ignored the warning.

The result saw scenes of indescribable pandemonium in the hitherto staid environs of Lord's. Kapil Dev couldn't seem to stop  flashing his famous rabbit-toothed grin ,sloshing everyone in sight with champagne; Srikkanth threw convention to the winds and puffed merrily on a cigarette from the Lord's balcony; Mohinder Amarnath, whose loping run to the wicket with a 'lucky' red kerchief poking out of his trouser pocket had made him a figure of fun before two successive man-of-the-match-winning performances in the semi-final and final gave him the last laugh, finally took the red kerchief out and waved it like a banner and board president N K P Salve, who appeared to have been the main beneficiary of Kapil's champagne largesse, tipsily waved a Tricolour in everyone's face...

It was, as everyone acknowledged, a team performance par excellence. Kapil Dev led from the front, topping the batting with 303 runs with an average of 60.6 besides taking 12 wickets at 20.42 and 7 catches including the match-winning one of Richards in the final. But the real scene stealers were the medium pacers: Roger Binny with 18 wickets at 18.67 was the highest wicket-taker in the tournament, but even he was outdone  by Madan Lal with 17 wickets at a mere 16.76. The economy rates were as remarkable: Kapil 2.92; Sandhu 3.58, Madan Lal 3.43, Amarnath 3.63 and Binny 3.82 made up five bowlers none of whom could be taken for four runs an over; an outstanding performance by any yardstick. And oh yes, one Syed Kirmani hauled in 12 catches and two stumpings, many of them standing up to the seamers, to give the bowling teeth.

The win was to have other, more far-reaching consequences. For the first time, Indian cricketers were to feel the taste of money. The win was worth 20,000 pounds, for starters. Industrialist Swaraj Paul added 2,500 pounds to the kitty. Amarnath hauled in 1000 pounds for his two man of the match awards in the last two games. The board gave each player Rs 5 lakh, to which Salve (perhaps it was the champagne talking) decided, impromptu, to add Rs 100,000 apiece, all of it tax-free.

Salve's promise of extra largesse was also to underline the abilities of two people who would influence Indian cricket to a considerable extent in later years. While the board chief worried over how to raise the money, Inderjit Singh Bindra came up with the idea of a Star Nite headlined by Lata Mangeshkar. And the organization of the event was left to none other than Jagmohan Dalmiya. It was perfect pairing -- Bindra the ideas man, and Dalmiya the enforcer, were some years down the line to join their talents as president and secretary, respectively, of the BCCI.

And oh yes, there was one final fall-out. Humiliated by officials of Lord's who denied them extra pavilion passes, board officials led by Salve vowed to snatch the World Cup from England and bring it to the sub-continent.As it turned out, that was no idle threat.As the next world Cup was held in the Sub-Continent.It was also the year of the underdog. The first two World Cups had been won by the clear favourite -- this one produced a sensational turnaround with 500-1 outsiders India upsetting the West Indies applecart.