The 1987 Cricket World Cup was contested by 8 countries. Red balls and traditional white clothing were used in this tournament. All the matches were played during the day. In the preliminary matches, every country played against all other countries in its group, two times. Zimbabwe which was in Group A had lost its first three preliminary matches and had very less chances of reaching the semi-final. The 1987 Cricket World Cup was lifted by Australia, under the captaincy of Allan Border.
Group match against New Zealand
On 23rd October 1987, Zimbabwe played its fourth group match and the opponent was New Zealand. The venue of this match was Eden Gardens in Kolkata, India. Zimbabwe batted first and accrued 227 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in 50 overs. Andrew Pycroft faced 46 balls and smashed 52 runs. Stephen Boock bowled 10 overs, gave away 43 runs and picked 2 wickets. New Zealand replied by amassing 228 runs for 6 wickets in 47.4 overs. Jeff Crowe contributed 88 runs in 105 deliveries and for this knock he was selected as the Man of the Match. Ali Shah took 2 wickets while conceding 34 runs in 10 overs. New Zealand won this match by 4 wickets.
Group match against India
Zimbabwe and India clashed for the second time in the group matches on 26th October 1987 at Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad. In the stipulated 50 overs, Zimbabwe amassed 191 runs for 7 wickets. The top scorer was Kevin Arnott who made 60 runs in 126 deliveries. Chetan Sharma dismissed 2 batsmen in 10 overs, while conceding 41 runs. India replied by scoring 194 runs for 3 wickets in 42 overs. Navjot Sidhu scored 55 runs in 61 balls. Peter Rawson bowled 8 overs, conceded 46 runs and took 2 wickets. India won this match by 7 wickets.
Group match against Australia
The last group match of Zimbabwe was played at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack and the opponent was Australia. Australia scored 266 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in 50 overs. The main scorer was David Boon who faced 101 balls and gathered 93 runs. John Traicos picked up 2 wickets while giving away 45 runs in 10 overs. Zimbabwe could not chase successfully and succumbed to 196 for the loss of 6 wickets in 50 overs. Andrew Pycroft managed 38 runs in 46 deliveries. Tim May made 2 dismissals for 30 runs in 10 overs. Australia won this match by 70 runs. David Boon was given the Man of the Match award.
Zimbabwe played in 6 group matches and lost all of them. Obviously, it did not progress to the semi-final and had to exit from the tournament.