Murray and Roberts Steal It — West Indies Beat Pakistan, 1975 World Cup

Both sides were among the favourites for the inaugural World Cup. West Indies had Lloyd, Lloyd's brother-in-law Roy Fredericks, the young Vivian Richards, and the most fearsome attack in the world; Pakistan, captained by Asif Iqbal, contained Majid, Zaheer, the Mohammad brothers, and Sarfraz.

The Edgbaston pitch was helpful to the seamers in the morning and easier later. Pakistan's 266 was a defendable rather than overwhelming total, and the early West Indian wickets suggested the chase would not survive the middle overs.

Pakistan, batting first, made 266/7 in 60 overs. Majid Khan 60, Mushtaq Mohammad 55, and Wasim Raja 58 contributed; Andy Roberts conceded 47 in 12. West Indies' reply lost Greenidge for 4, Fredericks for 12, and a series of middle-order wickets. They were 203/9 with Sarfraz Nawaz, Asif Masood and Naseer Malik all bowling out for the day.

Murray and Roberts were unlikely partners. Murray, the wicketkeeper-batsman, had played 38 Tests; Roberts, a tail-end batsman of moderate ability, was a number eleven. Pakistan's spinners — Wasim Raja part-time, Pervez Mir occasional — were finishing their overs, and the pair found that quick singles and the occasional cut against the slower bowlers brought the target down. The winning single came when Roberts pushed Wasim Raja into the on side; West Indies won by one wicket, with two balls remaining.

“I told him to bat for me. Just stay there. I would worry about the runs.”

West Indies completed the group stage, beat New Zealand in the semi-final at the Oval, and won the final against Australia at Lord's by 17 runs. Without the Edgbaston rescue, the chronology of West Indian dominance in the late 1970s would have begun differently.

Pakistan, despite the defeat, qualified comfortably for the next World Cup and remained, throughout the rest of the decade, one of the four or five strongest sides in the world.