Watch the highlights of Australia vs West Indies 10th Match Benson & Hedges World Series Cup 1981/82 - Benson & Hedges World Series Cup one-day international tournament of the 10th ODI match played between West Indies and Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne in 10th January 1982.
Bowlers and Michael Holding's four-wicket haul before An unbeaten half-century from Jeff Dujon steers to West Indies convincing five-wicket victory over Australia in a one-sided game of the tenth match of a Benson and Hedges World Series Cup.
AUSTRALIA scored 146 for all-out (42.5 Overs) with top scorer by Greg Chappell 59 (96) and Bruce Yardley 23 (27)
West Indies best bowler by Michael Holding
4/32 (7.5) and Andy Roberts 2/23 (7)
WEST INDIES chased 147/5 (47.1 Overs) with top scorer by Jeff Dujon * 51 (80) and Clive Lloyd 37 (57)
Australia best bowler by Mick Malone 2/9 (10) and Geoff Lawson 2/31 (9.1)
This match reported by Brian Mossop (Third Party Reference from SMH)
Clive Lloyd put it down to the fact that the Australian cricketers have not yet come to terms with the demands of professionalism, and Greg Chappell blamed the Australians for placing themselves under too much pressure.
Those were the views of the Opposing captains as the West Indies virtually put Australia out of the $50.000 Benson and Hedges World Series Cup finals before a world record one-day international crowd of 78,142 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The crowd. 25,000 more than the 52,990 who watched the infamous "under-arm ball" third final between Australia and New Zealand at the MCG last year. sat through temperatures that reached 39 degrees to see Australia beaten by five wickets.
And it might well have been a misjudgment of the wicket conditions by Chappell that left Australia languishing in last place on the limited-overs table — four points behind the West Indies and Pakistan.
Chappell, having seen the wicket play lower and slower when Australia batted second and lost the match with Pakistan on Saturday, chose to bat when he won the toss today But a damp patch at the Members' end, caused by watering after the first of the two weekend matches, accounted for Bruce Laird (4) and Graeme Wood (3) as Michael Holding exploited the spot.
In spite of a gratifying 59 by Chappell, Australia never really recovered from those two early setbacks. They were howled out for 146 runs in 42.5 of the 50 overs and, although the West Indies made heavy weather of the small target, they were never in any real danger of losing their grip on the match.
Jeff Dujon, the player-of-the-match with an unbeaten 51. and Lloyd (37) held the side together with a fifth-wicket partnership of 85, and it was Dujon, nursing a shoulder injury, who cracked the winning run with 17 balls to spare.
Llyod said later he was surprised when Australia decided to bat. "I would have put them in." he said. The wicket helped our bowlers It was also uneven, and that made it difficult to hat on. "It would not have been easy for us if we had been chasing 160 or I70"
Lloyd said he was not really happy with the MCG pitch — a view that coincides with Chappell's. although the Australian captain no longer chooses to be drawn on it other than to note his disappointment.
"I feel sorry for the players, the two teams and the public for not getting the spectacle they deserved for turning up in such numbers today." Chappell said.
Lloyd said something would have to be done about the wicket. "For one-day cricket you have to have a wicket on which both sides can display their skills." he said. "People want to see batsmen going for their shots."
Lloyd expressed the opinion that the Australians, who have won only two of their seven limited-overs internationals. had not come to grips with the intensity of professional cricket.
"What they are suffering front is professionalism," he said. "They are playing a lot more international cricket, and they have had a lot of injuries. We are professional cricketers all the year round."
Chappell thought that poor fielding 'was a contributing factor to Australia's showing in the one-day games. "Our fielding is not putting the same pressure on our opponents . it should," he said. "We seem to have less natural ability - certainly less than the West Indians and, at times, even less than the Pakistanis. "But we put ourselves under pressure because we had to win both matches this weekend.
"We have played a lot of cricket and we did not really need the pressure. "We would not have had it had we won some of our earlier matches. 'We are also carrying injuries. If we don't make it to the finals it will be disappointing for the promoters -
"We have got to win the next three games, that's all there is to it It's not going to be easy, but you never know."
Chappell, wills weekend innings of 35 and 59, appears to have turned his hack on the lean period that brought him five ducks in seven innings, and for that, at least, the Australians can be thankful.
But on a day in which tension replaced excitement for the crowd that stayed to the bitter end, the emergence of Chappell, some fine bowling by the replacement Mick Malone, and the pluck of Dujon were the only outstanding memories.
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