An India vs Australia World Cup match at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on a hot October afternoon. An Australian side opening the batting with a player named Marsh. An Indian top order batsman with a penchant for hitting sixes off spinners and a lower order all-rounder with an ability to swing the ball and play swashbuckling knocks with the bat.

This is a description of a World Cup match from October 1987 between the two cricketing heavyweights that would eerily enough be true for the World Cup match that is set to take place on Sunday October 8, 2023 between the two sides at the same stadium. 

Sunday has all the ingredients to emerge as the ideal potboiler, given how strong both sides are. However, the last time India met Australia in a World cup game in Chennai, fans witnessed one of the best thrillers the competition has seen in its 48-year history.

The game was played in an era when Chennai was still Madras and players wore whites even for the shorter format. There were no third umpire referrals for run-outs and stumpings, leave alone Decision Review System (DRS) for LBWs. As we will see, there were a few decisions during the course of this game which may have led to a different result, if today’s technology was available. A young Mohammed Azharuddin was a bowling option, while Navjot Singh Sidhu and Tom Moody were making their debut.

Earlier in the day, Australia rode on opener Geoff Marsh’s 110 and David Boon’s 49 to pile up 270 after India captain Kapil Dev chose to field first.

Incidentally Marsh’s younger son Mitchell is likely to open for Australia on Sunday.

Both openers Marsh and Boon played fluently and put on a 110-run-stand. After Boon, Dean Jones continued his love affair with Chennai with a quick 39. Left-arm spinners Ravi Shastri and Maninder Singh contained the initial flow of runs and later, none of the other batsmen could really get going with Kapil Dev finishing a tight spell at the death. India’s fielding was punctuated by a good catch by Azhar at deep-midwicket and a direct hit by Vengsarkar from long on to run-out Simon O’Donnel off the last ball of the innings.

In their chase of 271, Indian openers Sunil Gavaskar and Kris Srikkanth provided a treat for the boisterous Chennai crowd, with gorgeous flicks, straight drives and lofted shots. At one point pacer Craig McDermott looked flabbergasted as both openers smashed him around the park. Gavaskar was in imperious form, dismissing little-known leg-spinner Peter Taylor for a flat-batted six over long on. Eventually, he went for another one and was caught at long off for a quick-fire 37.

Srikkanth got out to Steve Waugh for 70, but debutant Sidhu launched into spinners Taylor and Allan Border, smashing five huge sixes. India were cruising; the batting line-up had Dilip Vengsarkar, Azhar, Kapil Dev, Shastri, Kiran More and Roger Binny and Prabhakar the all-rounders.

So much so that when Sidhu was bowled off a McDermott yorker, India needed just 43 in 9.2 overs with seven wickets in the hut. This is when McDermott and the Aussies applied the brakes on the scoring forcing Azhar and Vengsarkar to manufacture big shots and lose their wickets.

The game was still in the bag when Shastri opened his account with a couple of flicks. India needed just 24 in 33 balls. But Shastri played a yorker outside off back to McDermott, handing him his fourth wicket.

A few overs later, Kapil Dev’s wicket made it chaotic for India. Roger Binny tried to scamper for a single, only to be run-out by a direct hit from Jones at mid-on.

Prabhakar too, tried a quick single after hitting it to Border at cover. A precursor to Andrew Symonds’ famous direct hits, Border took his time, aimed at the non-striker end and got a direct hit to get Prabhakar run out.

In a matter of a few overs, India went from 229-3 to 265-9.

With six to get off the last over, it is a mystery why wicket-keeper batsman Kiran More didn’t farm the strike. Maninder Singh alternated between two couples and two dots.

With just two required off two balls, he went for an ugly hoick and Steve Waugh’s accurate ball castled him.

India lost by a run.

Modern technology could have had a major impact on the game. For instance, Allan Border was not given stumped off Ravi Shastri by the leg umpire, when replays show it was close. David Boon too was unhappy with his LBW decision.

However, the most important of them all was, as recalled by journalist Partab Ramchand in a column in TOI on Friday, a decision taken by Kapil Dev. One of Dean Jones' shots had been adjudged as a four. But the Aussies told Kapil that it was a six and he agreed to add two runs to Australia’s total.

Either way, Australia’s tight death bowling, fielding and comeback along with India’s flamboyance gave cricket and the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai, a classic for the ages.

Australia went on to lift the World Cup, beating England at the Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata (then Calcutta).

You can watch the highlights of the match here: