History of the ICC Cricket World Cup: Pakistan’s performance (Part 1)
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 has always been considered the most unpredictable cricketing side in the world. On their day, they can make world class opponents look mediocre; but they also have the tendency to suddenly go down against low-ranked sides
such as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ireland-c751.
The same has been the case in World Cup tournaments. On many occasions, when a lot was expected of them, Pakistan failed to deliver in the prized competition. However, their lone World Cup triumph in 1992, under the captaincy of
the charismatic Imran Khan, came when no one could have bet on them winning the tournament.
Here is a look back at all nine World Cup performances from the Asian giants.
1975: The inaugural ICC cricket World Cup was played in 1975 in England. Pakistan came into the tournament as underdogs and to make matters worse, they were grouped with Australia and the seemingly
unbeatable West Indies. The fourth team in the group was http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 and the West Indies; those two teams went on to compete in the final.
The men in green bagged only one win, against Sri Lanka, in the three matches they played and hence were eliminated in the group stage of the tournament. The West Indies went on to win the first World Cup trophy.
1979: The 1979 tournament was once again staged in England. In the group stages, Pakistan was to face Australia, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Canada-c748 and the home side England. Pakistan performed well in the group stages, beating
Australia and Canada comprehensively to qualify for the semi-finals.
In the semis, Pakistan competed with reigning champions, the West Indies. Pakistan took the field for the first innings of the match and failed to restrict the star-studded http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 batting line-up. The West Indies piled up
a hefty total of 293/6 in their allotted 60 overs with openers Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes both crossing the 50-run mark. Captain Clive Lloyd and Vivian Richards also performed ably with the bat.
Pakistan had an impressive batting side which had the ability to handle the ferocious bowling attack of their opponents. The second-wicket partnership between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zaheer-Abbas-c98435 gave hope to the Pakistani dressing room
that the match was theirs for the taking. However, after losing Abbas and the dismissal of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Javed-Miandad-c66580 on the first delivery he faced, the Pakistani innings collapsed. The whole team was bundled out for 250 runs as the West Indies, eventual winners of the
trophy, progressed to their second World Cup final.
1983: Pakistan hoped the third edition of the World Cup, held in 1983, would bring them glory but the team once again failed in the semi-finals against the West Indies. Pakistan reached the semis
after attaining the second spot in the group stages. Pakistan was tied on 12 points with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 but progressed through to the semi-finals based on a better run-rate.
Unlike the 1979 semi-final encounter between Pakistan and the West Indies, Pakistan batted first. However, the men in green struggled throughout their innings and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Pakistan managed to score
only 184/8 in 60 overs with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohsin-c77587 Khan getting 70 runs off 176 balls. The West Indies went on to chase the total in less than 49 overs with the loss of only two wickets to reach their third successive final; however, they failed to bag their third World Cup
trophy as they lost to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 in the final.
End of Part 1. The article continues in Part 2.
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