1987 cricket World Cup
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The Cricket World Cup in 1987 (aka Reliance Cup) was the fourth edition of the tournament. It was held from October 9 to November 8, 1987 in India and Pakistan - the first held outside England. The format was unchanged from 1983 except for a reduction in the number of overs a team played from 60 to 50, the current standard. 8 countries participated in the event. The preliminary matches were played in 2 groups of 4 each in which each country played its groupmates twice. The top two teams in each group qualified for the semifinals, whose winners played the final. The matches were played with traditional white clothing and red balls. They were all played during the day.
The countries participating were:
Test teams
- Australia (Group A)
- England (Group B)
- India (Group A)
- New Zealand (Group A)
- Pakistan (Group B)
- Sri Lanka (Group B)
- West Indies (Group B)
Other teams
- Zimbabwe (Group A)
The 1987 World Cup was lifted by Allan Border, captain of Australia who won against arch-rivals England by 7 runs in the most closely fought World Cup final to date in the Eden Gardens stadium in Calcutta. The other semifinalists, India and Pakistan failed to bring about an eagerly awaited India-Pakistan final. The West Indies failed to live upto expectations by not even qualifying for the semifinals.