LMAO at the dude who questioned why Ind/Zim in 1983 made it because it was minnow bashing. It was a group stage match at a point where both India and Australia had a 2-2 record with both teams having to face each other and Zimbabwe as their remaining opponents. Australia had beaten India 320 to 158 by 162 runs in their first match so the possibility of India winning the second leg later was seen as slim. Australia also had superior NRR. So any hope of India remaining in the world cup rested at the time on winning this match.
The first 5 batsman made 0,0,1,5 and 9 respectively. The organisers of the match by now were getting worried, afraid that the match would be a fiasco and over by lunchtime. They mentioned their fears to Dave Ellman-Brown (manager of the Zim team) who cautiously advised them that things could still change. The BBC, anticipating a startling Zimbabwean victory, phoned him as well, intending to come over and do an interview. Kapil entered at 17/5. Kapil then batted till the end of the innings of 60 overs with his 3 other partners scoring 22 (48), 17 (39), 24 (56) to get to 264/5. The chase had Kevin Curran try to pull off a similar heist coming in at 103-5 and batting with the tail till Zimbabwe were within 30~ runs with overs to spare until getting out at 235/9 with 73 (93). Classic competitive high stakes game with one of the best ODI innings of all time, come on.
Quoting the Widen match report from the World Cup:
"A remarkable match contained one of the most spectacular innings played in this form of cricket. India, who had chosen to bat on a pitch from which the ball moved a lot, were 9 for four - soon to be 17 for five - when their captain, Kapil Dev, came in. No-one could foresee then that a week later India would be winning the whole tournament; indeed, qualification for the semi-final was in grave doubt. With Binny and Madan Lal, Kapil Dev took the score to 140 for eight and by then was in full flow. Kirmani provided sensible support in an unbroken ninth-wicket stand of 126 in sixteen overs while Kapil Dev, with six 6s and sixteen 4s in all, reached 175, beating the previous highest for the tournament. Glenn Turner's 170 for New Zealand against East Africa at Edgbaston in 1975. The match was still not firmly in India's hands, for Curran, who with Rawson had been responsible for India's early disasters, played a dashing innings of 73, and it was not until he was ninth out at 230 in the 56th over that India were safe."