ICC Cricket World Cup 1975

The Cricket World Cup 1975, also known as the ‘Prudential Cup,’ was the first edition of the much awaited cricket tournament of the era. Eight countries, divided into two groups of four each, participated in the event. Two teams in each group played the semifinals and the winners of each played the final. Those days, the matches were played in white dress and with red balls. It was played for 60 overs and during the day-light.

The event took place between June 7 to June 21. The final was played between West Indies and Australia. West Indies won by 17 runs. The other semi-finalists were New Zealand and England. The Prudential Cup was lifted by Clive Lloyd, the captain of West Indies. He scored 102 runs in 85 balls.

Venue : England
 Date : 7 June 1975 to 21 June 1975
 Teams Played:
  Group A : England, New Zealand, India, East Africa.
  Group B : Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies.
Man of The Match: Clive Lloyd - Scored 102 runs in 85 balls.
Winner: West Indies (Beated Australia By 17 Runs).

Summary :-
Group A: East Africa v New Zealand - June 7, 1975 at Birmingham
New Zealand won by 181 runs.
New Zealand 309-5 (60 ov); East Africa 128-8 (60 ov).

Group A: England v India - June 7, 1975 at Lord’s
England won by 202 runs.
England 334-4 (60 ov); India 132-3 (60 ov).

Group B: Australia v Pakistan - June 7, 1975 at Leeds
Australia won by 73 runs.
Australia 278-7 (60 ov); Pakistan 205 (53 ov).

Group B: Sri Lanka v West Indies - June 7, 1975 at Manchester
West Indies won by 9 wickets.
Sri Lanka 86 (37.2 ov); West Indies 87-1 (20.4 ov).

Group A: East Africa v India - June 11, 1975 at Leeds
India won by 10 wickets.
East Africa 120 (55.3 ov); India 123-0 (29.5 ov).

Netherlands Cricket Team

Netherlands has not established itself as a test side yet. It is still in its early days in international cricket. Many of the players of Netherlands like Andre van Troost, Dan van Bunge and Bas Zuiderent have played county cricket in England.

As cricket’s popularity grows in Netherlands, it hopes to have many more Dutchs taking up professional cricket as a career. As of now, it is gleaning all the experiences that come its way and lay a foundation for the future.

History
Netherlands first qualified for the World Cup in 1996. It did not qualify for the World Cup that followed in 1999 but participated in the 2003 World Cup. In June 2006, Sri Lanka toured Netherlands for two ODIs. The matches, as expected, were totally one-sided but Netherlands impressed with its batting abilities. Netherlands has been actively participating in the other tournaments involving non-test playing countries. It won the ICC trophy in 2001. It also won the European Championship in 1998.

Netherlands secured a third place in the ICC trophy in 1994. This automatically earned Netherlands the ticket to the World Cup cricket in 1996. Netherlands finished last on the Group Table and could not proceed to the next round.

Netherlands did not qualify for the World Cup in 1999. Following its triumph in ICC trophy in 2001, Netherlands entered the World Cup in 2003. Here too its appearance was restricted to the first round. In a way, the 2003 World Cup was a memorable one for Netherlands since it registered its first victory in the World Cup. The win came against Namibia in the league matches.

Performance
As a part of ICC’s efforts to condition the non-test playing nations to the rigors of international cricket, test-playing teams are making tour of these countries. Sri Lanka visited Netherlands in July 2006 to play two one-day internationals. As expected, both the matches went in favor of the Sri Lankans by a considerable margin, but nonetheless, Netherlands put up a brave fight. Save for Muralitharan and Atapattu, who were missing from action, Sri Lanka fielded its regular team. Sri Lanka scored 443 for 9 in the first ODI thus surpassing the world record for the highest one day total. In reply, Netherlands was all out for 248 runs. Tim Leede top scored for his team with 51 runs coming from 42 balls.

The second ODI was an equally high scoring one with Sri Lanka setting a target of 313 runs, the Dutch made a fighting 248 in response. In the 2006 European Championship, Netherlands secured a third place.

Chances in the 2007 World Cup
Netherlands goes to the 2007 World Cup with limited experience of one-day cricket. The exposure that awaits them in the tournament will be invaluable to them. If not more, Netherlands should be looking to win at least a match against Scotland, which is in same group.

THE SOUTH AFRICAN CRICKET TEAM

Popularly known as The Proteas, the South African Cricket Team is one of the stronger teams of the world. This cricket team is administrated by Cricket South Africa. The South African cricket team is a full member of the International Cricket Council with participation is test and one day matches.

South Africa is currently ranked 2nd in one day internationals according to ICC ratings. South Africa has not won a single major tournament so far; in fact it has the uncanny knack of doing everything right till the final, before finally losing out steam. In spite of such failings, no one has any doubts about South Africa supremacy, next to Australia, in world cricket.

History
South Africa started its World Cup campaign in 1992. Since then it has reached semi-final twice and is yet to win the world cup.

Players
Herschelle Gibbs is an attacking batsman and a brilliant one on his day. Australians will not forget in hurry Herschelle Gibbs’ onslaught against them in the historic one-day in Johannesburg, where he guided South Africa to victory with 111-ball 175. Jacques Kallis is one of the best all-rounders in business. A lot of South Africa’s fortunes will be resting on the broad shoulders of this gifted player. Shaun Pollock has to lead the new ball bowling attack with Makhaya Ntini, who too is an impressive seamer. The former, being more experienced and accurate will be expected to provide early breakthroughs to the South African side.

Performance
It was simply the clash of the titans when Australia came to South Africa for a series against them in February 2006. The ODIs, as expected, were evenly contested and ended 3-2 in the favor of the hosts. The Australians swept the tests matches, much to the disappointment of the home crowd. The tests debacle notwithstanding, the ODI results showed that, if at all, only a thin margin separates the one-day sides of Australia and South Africa

Due to some unfortunate reasons of grave security concerns, South Africa pulled out of the tri-series in Sri Lanka. India was to be the third team in the tournament. The tri series, which ultimately got called of, would have been an acid-test for the South African side, where its ability to adapt under different conditions would have been sorely tested.

Chances in the 2007 World Cup
South Africa has lost venom in its play after the 2003 world cup. Authorities should be working hard to find new talent and induct them as soon as possible. Though South African team has not won any world cup, it has posted superb challenges to the opposing teams. South African side abounds in talent, what they could do with more is a little bit of luck. South Africa is the only side that has been beating the Australian side consistently and looks the most likely of the teams to quash Australia’s hopes of winning the world cup thrice in a row.