Say it with elegant brutality

Clive Lloyd
102 v Australia, Lord's
When Clive Lloyd loped out to join Rohan Kanhai in the final, West Indies were wobbling at 50 for 3. What followed was absolutely riveting as Lloyd demolished Australia with elegant brutality.

In his first over he clipped Dennis Lillee through midwicket, and when the bowler responded with a bouncer, Lloyd eased the ball over backward square leg into the top tier of the Tavern Stand. A clear signal of intent.

Lloyd was dropped by Ross Edwards on 26, after which he switched to top gear. The 50-run stand came off 49 balls, with Kanhai's contribution being 6. Max Walker, whose first seven overs had only yielded 22 runs, came back and Lloyd launched a perfectly decent first ball high, back over his head for a one-bounce four to reach his half-century. Walker's next five overs went for 49, including a seemingly effortless swish from Lloyd high into the grandstand to bring up the century partnership in 89 minutes.

A flashing cover drive took Lloyd to his hundred off 82 balls, in a stand of 140 runs with Kanhai.

Jeff Thomson, 1 for 22 v Sri Lanka, The Oval
Sri Lanka, one of the minnows of the tournament, seemed set for a thrashing after Australia piled on 328 for 5. In reply, Sri Lanka reached 150 for 2 in the 32nd over, up with the clock and fighting hard. They had weathered Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson's opening salvos, but when the pair returned, it proved too much. Sunil Wettimuny and Duleep Mendis were repeatedly struck on the body, with Thomson, steaming in from the Pavilion End, causing the most damage.

Finally Mendis wore a ball that Alan Gibson in the Times described as "not a bouncer but a short ball aimed at the body". Mendis was knocked out as if shot and was taken to hospital, while Thomson was roundly booed. The noise grew in Thomson's next over when he floored Wettimuny, who had already taken sickening blows to the legs and body.

The first ball of Thomson's next over landed once more on Wettimuny's instep and he jumped around in agony. Both he and Mendis were discharged from hospital the next day, but Wettimuny was forced to walk using crutches because of a damaged instep and Mendis missed Sri Lanka's last match with a lingering headache.

Alvin Kallicharran, 78 v Australia, The Oval
Australia had been bowled out for an insufficient 192 by West Indies in a match that proved a precursor to the final a week later. Kallicharran, the stylist from Guyana, walked out after opener Gordon Greenidge was dismissed early in the chase. Standing only 5'4", helmet-less, shirt half-unbuttoned, and with his sleeves rolled to his elbows, he took on the might of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, the most feared fast-bowling combination around.

Roy Fredericks had already started giving the Australian bowlers a hard time, cutting and hooking boundaries with ease, but his performance paled against the display from Kallicharran, who, after starting out cautiously, sent the Caribbean supporters into delirium with an astonishing assault on Lillee: a ten-ball sequence was blasted for 35 runs - 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1, 4, 6, 0, 4 - most of them powerful hooks, with a slash to third man and a delicate drive through covers mixed in. A mistimed pull ended his innings at 78, after he had taken West Indies within 40 runs of a straightforward victory.