ICC Cricket World Cup 1979: West Indies' Second Title — Richards, Collis King, and Lord's
The ICC Cricket World Cup 1979 was the second edition, hosted in England from 9 to 23 June 1979. West Indies defeated England by 92 runs in the final at Lord's Cricket Ground, London on 23 June 1979 — West Indies' second consecutive World Cup title. West Indies scored 286/9 (Viv Richards 138*, Collis King 86 — adding 139 for the 5th wicket). England were bowled out for 194 (Joel Garner 5/38). Richards's 138* from 157 balls was the highest score in a World Cup Final at the time. Collis King's 86 from 66 balls — a partnership-defining innings — came from a player who had scored only 116 runs in all other World Cup matches. Joel Garner took 5/38 — the best bowling figures in a World Cup Final. West Indies were the dominant one-day team of the era.
The ICC Cricket World Cup 1979 was the second edition, hosted in England from 9 to 23 June 1979. Eight teams played in two groups followed by semi-finals and a final. West Indies defeated England by 92 runs in the final at Lord's Cricket Ground on 23 June 1979 — West Indies' second consecutive World Cup title under Clive Lloyd. The tournament was played in the 60-over format.
Richards and Collis King: The Unlikely Partnership That Won the Final
West Indies were 99/4 when Collis King came in to bat in the 31st over of the final. What followed was an extraordinary partnership: King, who had not been selected for his batting, scored 86 from 66 balls — all boundaries and running between wickets at a pace that stunned Lord's. He and Richards added 139 for the 5th wicket, transforming 99/4 into 238/5 before King was dismissed. Richards — who had been patient to that point — then accelerated, finishing 138* from 157 balls. West Indies scored 286/9 — a massive total in 1979 (when 220 was typically sufficient to win). England's chase, led by Geoff Boycott (57) and Mike Brearley (64), was methodical but too slow; Joel Garner (5/38) and Michael Holding (2/16) restricted England to 194.
Garner's 5/38: The Best Bowling in a World Cup Final
Joel Garner's 5/38 from 11 overs in the 1979 World Cup Final remains the best bowling figures by any bowler in a World Cup Final. Garner, standing at 6'8", bowled full yorkers from a high action that England's batsmen found impossible to hit over the top. His five wickets included the key dismissals of Brearley, Botham (4), and the tail. England were dismissed for 194 with 5 overs remaining. The 92-run margin of West Indies' victory remains the second-largest in a World Cup Final.
Frequently asked questions
Who was Collis King, and why did his innings of 86 in the 1979 World Cup Final — from a player who scored only 116 runs in all other tournament matches — become one of cricket's most celebrated unexpected innings?
Collis King (born 1951, Barbados) was a Barbadian all-rounder who played 9 Tests (1976–1980) and 18 ODIs for West Indies. He was not a frontline Test batsman — his Test average was 26.57 — and in the 1979 World Cup, before the final, he had contributed 116 runs across the tournament's other matches. He was selected for his bowling (right-arm medium pace) and his fielding rather than his batting. His 86 from 66 balls in the 1979 World Cup Final was his highest score in any one-day international and came at the precise moment West Indies needed it: at 99/4 in the 31st over of a 60-over match, chasing a competitive total, on the Lords' outfield. The innings's analytical significance: King hit the ball with a clean, upright swing that was more typical of a lower-order 'slogger' than a technically accomplished batsman, and he found the boundary repeatedly. He and Richards (who was playing with controlled aggression rather than King's explosion) added 139 in approximately 21 overs — putting West Indies in a position where 286/9 was achievable despite the 60-over format's different scoring rates. King's 86 is often cited as the first example of the 'impact innings' in ODI cricket: a contribution by a nominally lower-order player that changes the match outcome more profoundly than the specialist batsmen's contributions, because it comes at the highest-leverage moment.