England will appear in the final of a World Cup or World T20 for the fifth time when they meet the West Indies on Sunday. Here are the highlights – and lowlights – of their previous appearances.
1979: West Indies won by 92 runs
A spectacular 138 not out from Viv Richards, including an awesome six off the final delivery of the innings, and an outrageous counterattacking 86 from Collis King took West Indies to a formidable total of 286 for nine from 60 overs.
England’s opening pair of Geoff Boycott and Mike Brearley added 129 for the first wicket – but it took them 38 overs to do so, which left the middle order needing to score at more than a run a ball against Joel Garner, the greatest limited-overs bowler of all time. Good luck with that. Garner’s yorkers brought him five wickets for four runs in just 11 balls.
1987: Australia won by seven runs
England were apparently cruising to victory until their captain, Mike Gatting, was dismissed playing a notorious reverse sweep off his opposite number Allan Border. If losing a World Cup final to Australia wasn’t bad enough, the result catalysed two decades of Ashes misery.
1992: Pakistan won by 22 runs
England’s finest one-day side were weary by the time they reached the final, and Pakistan’s cornered tigers had a bit too much sheer talent. And a bit of luck: England will forever wonder what would have happened had Javed Miandad been given out lbw to Derek Pringle early on. Pakistan would have been 25 for three; instead Miandad made a vital 58 to set up an above-par total of 249 for six.
England’s world-class finishers, Neil Fairbrother and Allan Lamb, led an impressive recovery after a poor start. England needed 109 from 15 overs when Wasim Akram produced genius as if to order, bowling Lamb with an astonishing leg cutter. For most it would have been a once-in-a-lifetime delivery. Wasim did it again next ball.
2010: England beat Australia by seven wickets
After 35 years, England finally won a global one-day tournament – and did so with a stylish, emphatic victory over Australia. The Aussies slipped to eight for three in a delirious start, and England never lost their grip on the game. Graeme Swann bowled magnificently, Kevin Pietersen completed a sensational tournament with a lordly 47, and Craig Kieswetter was man of the match for a brilliant 63.
