It was a time when West Indies were ruling cricket. They had monopoly over the world cups , as they emerged as champions in 1975 as well as 1979. Moreover, they had not lost a single match till then in any of the world cups. A team that boasted the best batters and best bowling attack were considered to be clear favourites for 1983 world cup as well. But eventually , it was "Underdog India" which defeated the 2 times world champions on 9th June 1983.

A match considered to be just a match practice for West Indies ended up hurting the ego of the West Indian team ,whose winning streak in world cup matches was broken by a much weaker Team India. And so, with the match lost, Windies were waiting for the right opportunity to show the world that the win by India was a fluke win. Having thrashed Australia and Zimbabwe post their defeat, the Windies were waiting for 2nd match against India like a wounded lion who waited for the prey.

And finally they got a chance to do so on 15th June. The Kennington Oval was filled with spectators as they wanted to see if Windies manage to win, or India repeats what they did. Windies were high on confidence beating Australia and Zimbabwe, whereas India were thrashed by Australia who defeated the former by a huge margin of 162 runs in their previous match.

Batting first , Windies did start little cautiously , as their first wicket fell soon. However, things changed after the greatest batter of that era, Sir Vivian Richards took to the crease. He took the onslaught on the Indian bowlers, especially against Binny who had scalped him in the previous encounter. He took the center stage and showed the world what class is. Desmond Haynes was happy to just compliment Richards by giving strike back to him. A magnificent redemption by Sir Vivian Richards through his century, and some handy contributions from Sir Clive Lloyd and Larry Gomes helped Windies ro reach a great total of 282 runs.

With a high total to chase, and without having the most experienced Sunil Gavaskar in the squad , the Indians were already low on confidence. And then the fire from the fearless 4 West Indian bowlers further decimated the Indian team. When the partnership between Mohinder Amarnath and Dilip Vengsarkar was going good, a barrage of bouncers by Windies' bowlers put India on the backfoot.

One of those deadly bouncers hit Dilip Vengsarkar right on his jaw, and he collapsed on the field. He was rushed to the hospital and was declared unfit to play for the remainder of the tournament. The Windies bowlers were breathing fire. Mohinder Amarnath played a gritty knock of 80 runs , taking blows all over his body. However, Amarnath and captain Kapil's resistance did not change the fate of the match, which Windies comfortably won by 66 runs.

Windies were already back to the winning ways in the tournament, but their victory over India was a clear indication that the first match of the tournament which India won was a one odd victory , and that West Indies were still clear favourites to become the champions. It was a statement to never take Windies lightly.

On the other hand, it was a moment of realisation for India , that they are nowhere near in the hunt to become a better team. The morale of Indian team was crushed, first by the massive defeat from Australia, and then by the 2 times world champions. The little hope the team had given to the Indian fans after the initial 2 victories, started to fade. But Indians were happy that their countrymen had atleast managed to defeat the West Indies team once in the tournament. Little did they know, what were to happen to their team in a matter of 10 days to come post the defeat from West Indies, against the same team in the final of that world cup.