A recap of the first ever cricket World Cup held in 1975
The first ever cricket World Cup was hosted by England in 1975. The tournament consisted of eight teams divided into two groups, with the top two teams from each team qualifying for the finals. Group A consisted of India, England, New Zealand & East Africa & Group B consisted of Australia, West Indies, Pakistan & Sri Lanka.
From Group A it was England who topped the group along with New Zealand in second place, who qualified for the semi-finals. From Group B it was the table toppers West Indies and second-placed Australia who qualified for the semi-finals.
In the semi-finals, Australia defeated England by 4 wickets and West Indies defeated New Zealand by 5 wickets to qualify for the finals.
In the finals, West Indies, with the help of a century from their captain Clive Lloyd (102), scored 291/8 from their allotted 60 overs. In response, Australia could only manage 274, thus giving the West Indies a victory by 17 runs and crowning them the inaugural World Champions.
Some of the key stats from the tournament are mentioned below.
Batting performances:
334/4 by England against India is the highest team total in the 1975 World Cup.
333 runs scored by Glenn Turner of New Zealand is the most number of runs scored by a player in the 1975 World Cup.
171* scored by Glenn Turner against East Africa is the highest individual score by a player in the tournament.
6 centuries were scored in the 1975 World Cup. These were scored by Glenn Turner of New Zealand (171* & 114*), Dennis Amiss of England (137), Keith Fletcher of England (131), Clive Lloyd of West Indies (102) & Alan Turner of Australia (101).
3 half-centuries scored by Majid Khan of Pakistan is the most number of half-centuries scored by a player in the 1975 World Cup.
3 sixes hit by Chris Old of England is the most number of sixes hit by a player in the 1975 Cricket World Cup.
Bowling performances:
11 wickets taken by Gary Gilmour of Australia is the most number of wickets taken by a player in the 1975 World Cup.
6/14 by Gary Gilmour against England is the best bowling performance by a player in the 1975 Cricket World Cup.
3 five-wicket hauls were taken in the 1975 World Cup. These were taken by Gary Gilmour of Australia (6/14 & 5/48) & Dennis Lillee of Australia (5/34).
Wicket-keeping performances:
10 dismissals (Ct - 9, St - 1) by Rod Marsh of Australia is the most number of dismissals by a wicket-keeper in the 1975 World Cup.
4 dismissals (Ct - 4) by Deryck Murray of West Indies against Sri Lanka is the most dismissals by a wicket-keeper in an innings in the 1975 World Cup.
Fielding Performances:
4 catches taken by Clive Lloyd of West Indies is the most number of catches taken by a player in the 1975 World Cup.
3 catches taken by Clive Lloyd of West Indies against Sri Lanka is the most number of catches taken by a player in an innings