Australia lifted the world cup trophy for the record fifth time as they beat New Zealand in the grand finale of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground amidst an electrifying atmosphere. Australia made it look easy in the end as they beat their co-host by 7 wickets with more than 15 overs remaining to be spared.
On the big final Brendon McCullum won the all important toss and decided to bat first. But they had the worst possible start as McCullum himself got out on the third ball of the day as Mitchell Starc got through his defense. Soon New Zealand lost Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson and they were in a bit of trouble early on. Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott pulled their team out of that situation as they built up a useful 100-run partnership in the middle overs. But just before the start of the batting powerplay, James Faulkner struck for the Aussies. Ross Taylor was the man to get out. And soon the Kiwi batting line up fell like a house of cards. Grant Elliott played an excellent innings of 83 runs but that was not enough to post a competitive total. New Zealand got all out for 183. All the Aussie bowlers put up an outstanding performance to keep the Kiwi total down to 183.
Australia also did not have best of the starts as they lost Aaron Finch in the second over as he got out for a duck. However Steve Smith came in and played a responsible innings of 56 runs to guide Australia over the finishing line. David Warner (45) also gave Smith a good support at the other end. After the fall of Warner, captain Michael Clarke came in for one final time in the Aussie outfit to bat in an one-day international. And what a knock he played. He scored 72 off just 71 balls, and it was just a flawless innings. When he was leaving the ground after getting out with Australia needing less than 10 runs to win, the packed MCG stands gave a perfect sending off by acknowledging his service to the nation and to the game of cricket. What a player he has been for the Kangaroos! And he deserved every bit of it.
The winning runs were hit by Steve Smith as he pulled one slower to the boundary as the crowd broke out into mad celebrations. All the Aussie players ran onto the field and it felt as if a yellow wave came in to destroy the Black Caps. None-the-less it was a great performance by the Kiwis. They might not have won the world cup but this year’s performance will surely help them to come up as a real powerhouse of cricket in recent future.
Tags: Australia Cricket news ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Michael Clarke world cup
