OTD: India surprisingly beat England by 6 wickets in World Cup semi-final

June 22 has always been a special day for Indian cricket since 1983. On this day, the Indian cricket team, for the first time in history, went past the semifinal to participate in the final and won the highest trophy in the world of cricket under the leadership of Kapil Dev.

In the World Cup 1983 semifinal, then the underdog side, India, was up against England at Manchester. The wicket was top green, not an ideal surface for the batters of any participating teams that day. England, the home team, struggled to rotate their strike and found only 213 in 60 overs. In those days, One Day International matches used to be played for 60 overs each. 

Graeme Fowler, the opener, with 33, was the top scorer in the semifinal for Bob Willis' team. Batting first, England, with little over 3 runs, scored 213 runs as the total. Under the English conditions, where the home team had to struggle a lot, it was not easy for Team India to get a single run.

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India won the semifinal as the deserving team 

Despite the adverse conditions, Mohinder Amarnath (46), Yashpal Sharma (61), and Sandeep Patil's (51) solidifying innings helped India to conquer England. Amarnath was the best performer of the match for his all-around display. With the ball he took a couple of wickets, and while batting, he played a crucial 46-run knock. 

Kapil Dev utilized the green surface the most by taking 3 scalps. He single-handedly dismissed the lower middle order and lower order of England. After defeating England in the semifinal, India faced the mighty West Indies in the final, where Kapil Dev played an unforgettable innings to claim India's first-ever World Cup trophy.