Houghton's 142, and McDermott's five-for

A brief introduction into the methodology of Performance Analysis.

The Batting Performance Ratings analysis takes into account the Runs scored, Balls faced, Next highest score (if this is the highest score), % of Team score, Innings status at entry, Bowling quality, Pitch information, Team strengths, Target score in front, Match location, Result and Match importance. These parameters are given appropriate weights. The calculations are done in such a way that Rating points of 1000 would be allotted to a mind-blowing and match-winning score of 200 in 150 balls in a WC final.

The Bowling Performance Ratings analysis takes into account the Wickets captured, Quality of batsmen dismissed, Scores at which batsmen were dismissed, Bowling accuracy, Batting quality, Pitch information, Team strengths, Target being defended, Match location, Result and Match importance. The calculations are done in such a way that Rating points of 1000 would be allotted to a magnificent and match-winning analysis of 10-2-15-6 in a WC final.

The Player Performance Ratings analysis takes into account the Batting Rating points, Bowling Rating points and the Fielding Rating points, which is a combination of catches and stumpings. There are minimum criteria for batting and bowling stints to ensure that these are genuinely all-round performances.

The Team Performance Ratings analysis takes into account the Result, Margin of win, Resources utilized, Team strengths, Match location and Match importance. The calculations are done in such a way that Rating points of 1000 would be allotted to an overwhelming win by 150 runs or 8 wickets in a WC final.

Let us move on to the Performance Analysis tables for 1987.

Top Batting performances

SNo	Rating Pts	Year	ODI#	Batsman	For	Vs	Runs	Balls
1	516	1987	457	IVA Richards	West Indies	Slk	181	125
2	514	1987	454	DL Houghton	Zimbabwe	Nzl	142	137
3	496	1987	476	GA Gooch	England	Ind	115	136
4	401	1987	470	GR Marsh	Australia	Nzl	126*	149
5	387	1987	473	RB Richardson	West Indies	Pak	110	135
6	349	1987	453	GR Marsh	Australia	Ind	110	141
7	292	1987	474	SM Gavaskar	India	Nzl	103*	88
8	289	1987	464	A Ranatunga	Sri Lanka	Win	86*	100
9	282	1987	477	DC Boon	Australia	Eng	75	125
10	280	1987	463	Rameez Raja	Pakistan	Eng	113	148

Even though Richards' 181 was a huge innings the real quality innings of the tournament were the ones featured in the next two positions. Chasing a middling total of 252, Houghton played magnificently scoring a better-than-run-a-ball 142 out of the Zimbabwe innings of 239 runs. They fell a single stroke short.

Gooch played one of the best innings ever, in terms of tactics, when he swept the Indian spinners to such a level that Shastri and Maninder went for over 100 in their 20 overs. The Indian team did not read the situation well. But Gooch (and England) could not be denied. There are no detailed records available. However, since I watched the game, my memory suggests that over 50% of the runs were scored in the fine and square leg area. Marsh's hundred was a top quality match winning one against the old foe, New Zealand. Marsh also played another match winner in the narrow 1-run win over India. Gavaskar's hundred was a stern message to the followers that he was one of the most gifted stroke-makers ever.

Top Bowling performances

SNo	Rating Pts	Year	ODI#	Bowler	For	Vs	Analysis
1	334	1987	475	CJ McDermott	Australia	Pak	10.0 - 0 - 44 - 5
2	305	1987	455	Abdul Qadir	Pakistan	Eng	10.0 - 0 - 31 - 4
3	304	1987	463	Imran Khan	Pakistan	Eng	9.0 - 0 - 37 - 4
4	303	1987	459	CA Walsh	West Indies	Pak	10.0 - 1 - 40 - 4
5	293	1987	476	EE Hemmings	England	Ind	9.3 - 1 - 52 - 4
6	283	1987	461	M Prabhakar	India	Zim	8.0 - 1 - 19 - 4
7	273	1987	453	CJ McDermott	Australia	Ind	10.0 - 0 - 56 - 4
8	266	1987	468	PAJ DeFreitas	England	Win	9.1 - 2 - 28 - 3
9	252	1987	459	Saleem Jaffer	Pakistan	Win	10.0 - 0 - 30 - 3

This table is headed by McDermott's match-winning effort against Pakistan in the semi final at Hyderabad. This was a close win and McDermott captured the early key wickets and polished off the tail when only 20 runs were needed. A major effort considering that Australia crossed one more hurdle. Abdul Qadir and Imran come in next. Each of them spear-headed the Pakistani wins over England. Walsh's excellent effort against Pakistan was in vain: Pakistan winning a cliff-hanger by one wicket. Hemmings followed up Gooch's beautiful hundred with an incisive spell against India.

Top Player performances

SNo	Rating Pts	Year	ODI#	Player	For	Vs	Runs	Balls	Analysis
1	381	1987	475	Imran Khan	Pakistan	Aus	58	84	10.0-1-36-3
2	288	1987	456	KM Curran	Zimbabwe	Aus	30	38	8.0-0-29-2
3	268	1987	465	M Azharuddin	India	Aus	54*	45	3.5-0-19-3
4	267	1987	460	JE Emburey	England	Slk	30*	19	10.0-1-26-2
5	262	1987	466	AH Omarshah	Zimbabwe	Nzl	41	90	10.0-0-34-2
6	255	1987	477	AR Border	Australia	Eng	31	31	7.0-0-38-2
7	228	1987	469	N Kapil Dev	India	Zim	41*	25	10.0-2-44-2
8	223	1987	476	N Kapil Dev	India	Eng	30	22	10.0-1-38-2

The shortage of bowling performances during the 1987 World Cup meant that I had to lower the qualification criteria only for this World Cup so that I could get some player performances at least. With the normal cut-offs, only three performances qualified. Imran Khan's magnificent all-round performance against Australia was in vain, Australia winning a close match by 18 runs. Similarly Curren's all-round performance against Australia was in vain. Azharuddin is a surprise entry in this table, pulling his weight with the ball in a comfortable win against Australia. He cleaned up the last three wickets. Emburey's cameo propels him to the fifth place in the easy win over Sri Lanka.

Top Team performances

SNo	Rating Pts	Year	ODI#	Team	Own score	Vs	Other score
1	709	1987	476	England	254 for 6 in 50.0	Ind	219 for 10 in 45.3
2	689	1987	477	Australia	253 for 5 in 50.0	Eng	246 for 8 in 50.0
3	686	1987	475	Australia	267 for 8 in 50.0	Pak	249 for 10 in 49.0
4	667	1987	474	India	224 for 1 in 32.1	Nzl	221 for 9 in 50.0
5	657	1987	457	West Indies	360 for 4 in 50.0	Slk	169 for 4 in 50.0
6	643	1987	460	England	296 for 4 in 50.0	Slk	158 for 8 in 45.0
7	636	1987	473	West Indies	258 for 7 in 50.0	Pak	230 for 9 in 50.0
8	623	1987	468	England	269 for 5 in 50.0	Win	235 for 10 in 48.1
9	617	1987	472	England	219 for 2 in 41.2	Slk	218 for 7 in 50.0
10	611	1987	453	Australia	270 for 6 in 50.0	Ind	269 for 10 in 49.5

England's semi final win over India just about edges Australia's title win to second place. The reason is that India was the home country and the margin was much higher. Australia's final win carried enough weight to pip their semi-final win over Pakistan. It is appropriate that the two teams in the final occupy the top three positions. Then comes India's 9-wicket vanquishing of New Zealand. And West Indies' demolition job over Sri Lanka.

This was a somewhat feature-less tournament with very few great performances. Everything went according to plan. India was expected to roll over England at Mumbai, Pakistan over Australia at Hyderabad and a grand sub-continental final at Eden gardens. Both plans went awry and the Ashes teams upstaged their sub-continental counterparts. One through a tactical masterpiece and the other through good quality all-round cricket. The final also went to the underdog, possibly because of Veletta's explosive cameo, Athey's slow batting and Gatting's reckless stroke. The winning margin was only 7 runs.

The match of the tournament was Pakistan's one-wicket win over West Indies: a match which also saw extraordinary sportsmanship by Walsh in not running out Saleem Jaffer. That act should be seen by every cricketer of today a few times. There were quite a few narrow wins in the tournament.
The bowling spell of the tournament was the crucial 5-wicket capture by McDermott against Pakistan in the semi final.
The innings of the tournament was a toss-up between Gooch's tactical masterpiece of 115 against India in the semi final and Houghton's incomparable 142 against New Zealand at Hyderabad. Because of the importance of the match and the opponent, Gooch's innings gets the vote.