The 1987 Cricket World Cup was hosted by India and Pakistan. This was the first edition of this tournament that was contested out of England. The format of this Cup was similar to the 1983 edition, with the only alteration that the total number of overs for an innings was decreased from 60 to 50. Zimbabwe was placed in Group A along with India, Australia and New Zealand. In the final match of this tournament, England and Australia clashed against each other and eventually, Australia won the World Cup.
Group match against New Zealand
Zimbabwe played its first group match against New Zealand on 10th October 1987. The venue of this match was Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Hyderabad, India. The umpires for this match were PW Vidanagarnage and Mahboob Shah. New Zealand batted for all the 50 overs and for the loss of 7 wickets accumulated 242 runs. The top scorer was Martin Crowe who made 72 runs in 88 deliveries. Ali Shah bowled 9 overs, conceded 42 runs and picked 2 wickets. Dave Houghton played brilliantly for Zimbabwe and returned to the pavilion after scoring 142 runs in 137 deliveries. However, he did not get any assistance and his team was bowled out for 239 runs in 49.4 overs. Willie Watson made 2 dismissals while giving away 36 runs in 10 overs. New Zealand won this match by 3 runs. Dave Houghton was given the Man of the Match prize. 
Group match against Australia
On 13th October 1987, Australia and Zimbabwe clashed against each other at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Madras. For Australia, Allan Border led by example and faced 88 balls while scoring 67 runs. Australia lost 9 wickets for 235 runs in the allocated 50 overs. Kevin Curran took 2 wickets for 29 runs in 8 overs. Zimbabwe failed to chase the target and succumbed to 139 in 49.4 overs. The only resistance was offered by Kevin Curran who gathered 30 runs in 38 balls. Simon O’Donnel picked a rich haul of 4 wickets for 39 runs in the 9.4 overs that he bowled. Australia won this match by 96 runs. 
Group match against India
Zimbabwe played its first group match against India on 17th October 1987 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Zimbabwe collapsed in front of the Indian bowling and was all out for 135 in 44.2 overs. Andrew Pycroft offered some resistance and accrued 61 runs in 102 deliveries. Manoj Prabhakar bowled 8 overs and made 4 dismissals for 19 runs. India chased the target easily and in 27.5 overs, collected 136 runs for 2 wickets. Dilip Vengsarkar remained unbeaten on 46 in 37 deliveries. Prabhakar was declared as the Man of the Match. India won this match by 8 wickets.
Zimbabwe lost its first 3 group matches and this considerably decreased its chances of entering the semi-final.