Balwinder Singh Sandhu is widely known for providing the first breakthrough by dismissing Gordon Greenidge in the 1983 World Cup final at Lord’s. Interestingly, he had sent back the West Indian in the same manner — bowled — in their first league match of the tournament. That game, too, had gone India's way (it won by 34 runs). Talk of coincidence!
After the hammering they received at the hands of Viv Richards (181, 125b, 16x4, 7x6) & Co. (360-4 in 50 overs) at the National Stadium in Karachi in 1987, the Sri Lankans decided to pay back in a most unusual manner: make the West Indians field for the full quota of overs. They plodded and plodded, scoring just 169 in 50 overs. The only thing equal in that unequal contest was the number of wickets lost: four by each team.
In the same match, Asanka Gurusinha's 36 off 108 deliveries made one wonder whether there was a link between crawling at the wicket and three dozen runs! For, Sunil Gavaskar, too, had finished at 36 not out when India chased England's mammoth total of 334 in the first-ever World Cup match (and fallen short by 202 runs). Probably, the only consolation for the Sri Lankan was that the Indian consumed 174 balls, or 11 overs more.
