PAST WORLD CUP TOURNAMENTS

1975: Hosts: England; Winners: West Indies

1975: Hosts: England; Winners: West Indies The one-day format, and particularly the West Indies, captured the imagination in the first World Cup. The Windies swept to glory on a sunbathed midsummer's day at Lord's with Clive Lloyd hitting a memorable century in a thrilling final against Australia. The men from the Caribbean were formidable throughout the eight-team tournament, despite an early scare against Pakistan. Other teams had difficulty adapting to the shortened game, not least India for whom Sunil Gavaskar batted 60 overs for an unbeaten 36 against England. 1979: England; West Indies Australia were weakened for the second tournament having omitted all of their players involved in the rival World Series Cricket. The West Indies selected their WSC players and powered their way to an impressive title defence. With a powerful pace attack and outstanding batsmen in Viv Richards and Gordon Greenidge, the West Indies were again the dominant force. England also made their way to the final but were set a stiff target after brilliant innings from Richards and Collis King. They made a steady reply but Joel Garner's five-wicket burst saw them collapse to defeat. 1983: England; India The country of India finally woke up to one-day cricket as a Kapil Dev-inspired side pulled off an unexpected victory in the third World Cup. India crept through the tournament and saw off a below-par England to reach the final. Their opponents were, as expected, a fearsome West Indies at the height of their global supremacy. The expected mismatch did not happen, even though India were bowled out for 183. Mohinder Amarnath and Madan Lal proved too much to handle and India's eventual 43-run win proved one of the great upsets, as well as one of the key landmarks, in the game's history. 1987: India and Pakistan; Australia 'The party went flat in the first World Cup to be held in Asia as both hosts fell at the semi-final stage. That left England and Australia to contest the main prize at the vast Eden Gardens in Kolkata. In what proved a sign of things to come, it was Australia who emerged victorious under the astute guidance of Allan Border. England still had plenty of time to chase their attainable target of 254 after captain Mike Gatting's infamously faulty reverse sweep, but they never recovered momentum and the Aussies held them out. 1992: Australia and New Zealand; Pakistan Australia took World Cup cricket to a different level as they hosted a superb tournament, the first to feature white balls, coloured clothing and floodlights. The rain rules proved controversial, however, as South Africa - featuring for the first time after international isolation - were infamously beaten in the semi-finals by England after their target was revised to extent it became impossible. England were actually the strongest team and they largely cruised through to the final but they then came up against an Imran Khan-led Pakistan team who peaked at the right time. 1996: India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka; Sri Lanka Sri Lanka began the second Asian World Cup as dark horses but their exciting and highly successful approach made them hugely popular champions by the end of it. Arjuna Ranatunga's side transformed one-day batting as they exploited new fielding restrictions to play the first 15 overs like the last, bringing term of 'pinch-hitting' into common cricket parlance. Sanath Jayasuriya was the chief exponent, savaging attacks throughout, but it was Aravinda da Silva who did the damage in the final against Australia with a brilliant century. 1999: England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Holland; Australia After a number of successful World Cups, the 1999 event proved the first in a series of damp squibs. That overall impression, however, was created by the dismal performance of hosts England, a confusing new Super Six stage and Australia's one-sided win over Pakistan in the final. There were some fine games along the way with Australia coming back from a position of near elimination, Zimbabwe producing some shocks and Bangladesh stunning Pakistan. Then there was arguably the greatest one-day finish ever as Australia beat South Africa on fewer wickets lost after a nail-biting semi-final tie. 2003: South Africa, Zimbabwe & Kenya; Australia Australia powered to an easy title defence in a tournament that was considered too long at six weeks and never gained momentum. The opening weeks were overshadowed by political issues concerning co-hosts Zimbabwe and a drugs ban for Australia hero Shane Warne. Further impetus was lost when South Africa were eliminated after a farcical misreading of the rain rules. England were again poor and the theoretically smart Super Six stage again proved puzzling in practice. Kenya surprised many to reach the semi-finals but Australia maintained the world order with a crushing win over India in the final, Ricky Ponting hitting a brilliant 140. 2007: West Indies, Australia The most recent World Cup was arguably the worst, a tournament billed as a carnival of cricket which proved anything but. The Caribbean event was massively overshadowed by the death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer, who was initially thought to have been murdered. Despite notable performances by Ireland and Bangladesh, the tournament never got going and crowds were poor due to overpriced tickets regulations perceived as unnecessary. Australia and Sri Lanka set up a potentially brilliant final - and a stunning hundred from Adam Gilchrist threatened to make it so - but the ending summed up the whole fiasco. Australia celebrated victory the Duckworth/Lewis method as they were taken off for bad light, only to be brought back on in near darkness. Confusion reigned until they were declared winners.