On This Day in 1987: When Kapil Dev’s Sportsmanship Resulted in Australia Winning by 1 Run in World Cup Match

On this day in 1987, a clash between India and Australia in the World Cup group match in Chennai went down as one memorable match ever witnessed. The match between the two cricketing giants saw the side from Down Under, winning the match by 1 run, however, the talking point was then captain Kapil Dev’s sportsmanship, which cost India a victory. Sportsmanship at the time was a rare sight to witness, however, when it results in going the favour of the opposition, it is truly one bitter pill to swallow.

The hosts won the toss and elected to field. In the 50 overs match, Australia opener Geoff Marsh put on a masterclass in Chennai as the swashbuckler slammed a classy century. Openers Marsh and David Boon stitched a 110-run partnership before Ravi Shastri managed to claim the breakthrough in the form of an LBW, removing Boon for 49.

While Marsh was hammering away, Dean Jones joined the party at No. 3 and also contributed by hitting boundaries. It was during Jones’ innings when the batter hit Maninder Singh’s delivery to long-on where Shastri was positioned, unfortunately, he dropped the catch which resulted in a boundary. The umpire had signalled a four, based on Shastri’s actions. However, Jones believed the dropped catch went over the line and was a six. India wicketkeeper Kiran More disagreed, and claimed it was not a six, which resulted in the boundary being given as a four.

Jones was eventually removed by Maninder for 39 and the rest of the batting order could not contribute much as India restricted Australia to 268/6 in 50 overs. It was during the innings break where the then Australia manager was not pleased with the umpire’s decision on signalling a four instead of a six when Jones played the shot. The umpires consulted India skipper Kapil Dev who in a great gesture, gave the decision to allow the six, which resulted in Australia’s innings be pushed from 268/6 to 270/6.

Chasing 271, Sunil Gavaskar and Kris Srikkanth got India to a flying start and stitched a 69-run partnership before Peter Taylor was able to remove Gavaskar for 37. Srikkanth was able to continue and hit a half-century, however, Steve Waugh had other ideas before trapping the opener with an LBW, departing for 70. As India lost their openers, Dilip Vengsarkar joined soon as well after McDermott managed to remove the top order batter for 29. India had slipped from 207/2 to 265/9.

After Vengsarkar, India’s line-up fought hard, but were unable to retaliate as the Australian attacking unit were clinical in terms of fielding and bowling, keeping matters real tight. India nearly reached the finishing point but lost by 1 run in the WC group match. If it wasn’t for Kapil Dev’s sportsmanship, the events could have turned out quite different.

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