Becomes a Record 5th Time World Champion
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| Image Courtesy: NewsFirst |
Australia kissed the Cricket World Cup for a record 5th time as it defeated New Zealand convincingly in the final match held at MCG, Melbourne on 29th March 2015. The mega event that witnessed all time maximum crowd of 93,013 eventually turned out to be a one-sided affair where the Kangaroos outplayed the Kiwis in every department.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, New Zealand’s dream to repeat its run feast were badly shattered with skipper McCullum taking an early exit for a duck. Martin Guptill, the double centurion against West Indies in the quarter final, also ceased to recreate the magic with his bat as he floundered to score 15 from 34 balls before being eliminated by a Maxwell delivery. Baring some individual performances, the entire team failed to ignite the expected current in the stadium and was bowled out at a score a paltry 183 in just 45 overs.
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| Image Courtesy: NDTV |
Grant Elliott (83 off 82 with 7 fours and 1 six), the hero of the semi final against South Africa, along with Ross Taylor (40 off 72, with 2 fours), were the only batsmen to exhibit somewhat courage on behalf of their team. From the fielding side, Mitchell Johnson and James Faulkner shared 3 wickets each, while Mitchell Starc grabbed two. Maxwell took the priced wicket of the New Zealand captain.
After setting an easily reachable target, the Kiwis looked promising enough in their bowling attack with two early wickets of Aaron Finch and David Warner. However, the story was not that rosy for the Kiwis for the rest of the innings as the Kangaroos steered their way to the fifth world cup title flawlessly. Playing his last ODI before retirement, captain Clarke spearheaded the Aussies attack with a blistering knock of 74 off 72 balls, well decorated by 10 fours and a six. Moreover, it seemed that Steven Smith (56 of 71, with 3 fours)started exactly from where he left the match against India in the semi-final as he made his team to cruise along smoothly in a 112-run stand with his skipper.
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| Image Courtesy: NDTV |
There was however not much for the kiwis to cherish in terms of bowling. Henry (2 for 46), and Boult (1 for 40) were the only wicket takers, while the rest of the bowlers went wicket less. James Faulkner was awarded the Player of the match for his brilliant bowling performance. The Player of the Series title was given to Mitchell Starch for his 22 wickets in the entire tournament by none other than Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar. He equaled maximum number of wickets with Trent Boult.
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| Image Courtesy: The Australian |
Prior to the match, New Zealand was the favorite team to win the quadrennial mega cricketing event. However, ultimately Australia held nerve to leave the Kiwis heart wrenched with a convincing 7-wicket victory. The Aussies completed the formality in just 33.1 overs with a boundary from Smith to take the team’s score to 186 for 3. Earlier, while the Kiwis defeated South Africa in a nail biting finish to cement their place in the final, the Aussies defeated a promising Indian team to enter its seventh Final in the cricket world cup.
Praising his team on winning the cup, the triumphant captain Clarke said, “ Thanks to every Australian and cricket supporter out there who've been behind us. The team and support staff, the support I've had since coming back into the team, they deserve to stand there with the trophy”. He also admired Brendon McCullum and his team mates for the brilliant show they put altogether. He said,” Over the moon, what a tournament, Brendon and NZ deserve a lot of credit, always a tough team to beat, whenever we play them in any sport - so well done to Baz and his team, especially personally, he had an amazing performance. ”
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| Image Courtesy: The Australian |
A HIGH-FIVE to TEAM AUSTRALIA
Overall, the event witnessed some great individual performances, some of the highlights include as below:
- Top Run Scorer: Martin Guptill (NZ) 547
- Highest Individual Score: Martin Guptill (NZ) 237*
- Top Wicket Taker: Mitchell Starc (AUS) 22
- Best Bowling Figures: Tim Southee (NZ) 7/33
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