As fans await the rain to stop for the start of play to begin between India and New Zealand, it is a worthy exercise to visit the past and go through an important landmark achieved when these two teams played against each other in the 1987 World Cup hosted jointly by India and Pakistan. On October 31, 1987, in the Reliance World Cup at Nagpur, Chetan Sharma of India picked up a hat-trick in the match against New Zealand. Sharma became the first bowler to achieve this feat in the world cups. India vs New Zealand Cricket Score 18th ODI Match.

Sharma dismissed Ken Rutherford, Ian Smith and Evan Chatfield in three consecutive balls. He got all of them bowled. It was the first hat-trick by an Indian and third overall in history then. India vs New Zealand Live Cricket Score of ICC World Cup 2019 Match.

Watch Chetan Sharma's Hat-Trick in the Video Below

The 1987 Cricket World Cup, also known Reliance World Cup 1987 for sponsorship reasons, was the fourth edition of ICC Cricket World Cup tournaments. It was co-hosted by India and Pakistan, making it the first World Cup to be held outside England. The World Cup 1987 spanned for a month, starting from October 8 to November 8. However, unlike the 1983 World Cup, the number of overs per side in a match was reduced to 50, the norm that time for the games played outside England.

The tournament was played at 22 venues across India and Pakistan, with the final of the tournament being played at the iconic Eden Gardens, in Kolkata. The 1987 Cricket World Cup featured 27 matches, played in the round-robin and subsequently in knockout format.

A total of eight teams participated in the 1987 Cricket World Cup, which were equally divided in two Groups, i.e. A and B. Group A comprised of teams like India, Australia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe. On the other hand, Group B comprised of Pakistan, England, West Indies, and Sri Lanka.

Australia won the toss and chose to bat. Riding high on a half-century by David Boon (75 runs) and a cameo by Mike Veletta (45 runs of 31 balls), Australia posted a daunting total of 253/5 on the scoreboard. In reply, Bill Athey scored a half-century (58 runs), while Mike Gatting (41 runs) and Allan Lamb (45 runs) contributed significantly. However, the English side fall short of 7 runs, and lost the match. David Boon was awarded the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his half-century. It was Australia’s first World Cup win and also the beginning of the downfall of the mighty West Indies cricket team.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 13, 2019 06:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).