Sunday 29 March 2015

Australia strike Cricket World Cup gold again

CRICKET WORLD CUP
Group A preview - Group B preview - Results sheet
Group update - England review - Group review - Knockout stages - FINAL

New Zealand 183 (45) Elliott 83
Australia 186-3 (33.1) Clarke 74, Smith 56*
Australia won by seven wickets Scorecard

New Zealand Brendon McCullum (c), Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi (w), Daniel Vettori, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Trent Boult
Australia David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steve Smith, Michael Clarke (c), Glenn Maxwell, Shane Watson, James Faulkner, Brad Haddin (w), Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson, Josh Hazlewood
Attendance 93,013 in Melbourne Umpires Kumar Dharmasena (SL), Richard Kettleborough (Eng) 
04:30 BST start. Live on Sky Sports.

AUSTRALIA captain Michael Clarke hit a half-century in his last ever One Day International and led the Baggy Greens to a record-extending fifth World Cup win.

Clarke scored 74 off 72 balls as the Aussies made light work of a target of 184 in front of a record crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

It had actually appeared that Clarke would repeat the feat of India captain MS Dhoni from four years ago by hitting the winning runs himself - but Matt Henry would deny him that opportunity.

Instead, Clarke's heir apparent Steve Smith appropriately delivered the champagne moment as part of his own unbeaten half century which came on the back of his semi final-winning ton against India.

Of course, by the time the Australians took to the crease, they were already in a strong position after the Black Caps had produced an untypically under-par performance. 

Making their first ever World Cup Final appearance, it all went wrong for Kiwis from the very start. 

Skipper Brendon McCullum had, throughout this tournament, personified his team's attacking instincts by thumping boundaries and scoring quickly at the top of the order. 

But, in Melbourne, he was out for a duck after man of the tournament, Mitchell Starc, easily breached his defences. 

The early blow unsettled the underdogs - and, inside 13 overs, New Zealand were three down having given away a couple more soft wickets. 

Opener Martin Guptill, who had been outstanding until the Final, had seen off the pace of Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Johnson - but could not resist a fateful swipe at the spin of Glenn Maxwell. 

And then, in the next over, Kane Williamson meekly tapped the ball back to Johnson for a simple caught and bowled.

To their credit, New Zealand somewhat rebuilt their innings at this point as semi final hero Grant Elliott joined Ross Taylor at the crease for an 111-run fourth-wicket partnership.

The pair were still there as the Black Caps headed into the batting powerplay in the 36th over - but, after just one ball of that phase beginning, they were parted. 

Taylor edged behind on 40 - and then new man Corey Anderson lasted just two balls before playing all around another one from man of the match James Faulkner.

Luke Ronchi joined Anderson and McCullum back in the hutch with a duck after edging Starc to Clarke - and so, in a flash, New Zealand had been reduced to 150-6.

Once Johnson accounted for Daniel Vettori with a brilliant inswinging yorker, Elliott could see the end game was fast approaching. 

A swipe at a slower ball from Faulkner ended his stand of 83 before Henry became the fourth Black Caps' duck after getting out to an ugly full toss.

The last New Zealand wicket was a beaut, however - and it came as a result of some sensational ground-fielding by Maxwell. 

Sensing Tim Southee was just a little slow in returning to his crease at the non-strikers end, the Melbourne-born all-rounder threw at stumps and ran him out with a direct hit.

Southee was actually only about foot away from safety - but Maxwell's throw from short leg was so accurate, it still beat the batsman with ease. 

Indeed, with 37-year-old Brad Haddin still springing behind the stumps with the athleticism of an eager youngster, Australia's fielding played a big part of a brilliant all-round team performance. 

From the very start, the Aussies had barely given a sniff to their trans-Tasman rivals - and so, as Trent Boult and Southee came onto bowl in response, there was already huge pressure on their shoulders. 

But the Black Caps are nothing if not resilient - and, with McCullum setting attacking fields, the Kiwi strike bowlers created several early opportunities. 

Only one of them was taken, though - by Boult himself after Finch was out for a duck to a horrible shot which looped back off his front pad straight to the bowler. 

Henry later induced a second wicket from the risk-taking David Warner who top-edged a pull to Elliott - and, at 63-2, the Kiwis were just about hanging on in the game. 

However, it was at this point that Clarke joined Smith at the crease for his final ODI innings following his announcement yesterday

Playing a tad nervously at first, the skipper soon settled, safe in the knowledge that Smith was looking pretty solid at the other end. 

The run rate actually was nothing special - but it did not need to be - and, once the target was reduced to double figures, Clarke began driving and cutting with aplomb.

Off one Southee over, he hit four successive boundaries - and indeed, by the end of those six balls, the World Cup was in sight.

Australia only required another 10 more runs - so it came as quite a shock when Clarke then chopped Henry onto his stumps in one final act of New Zealand defiance. 

That was good to see from the Kiwis - as, despite the disappointment of this Final, McCullum's men produced a campaign which has undoubtedly stirred their nation

The crowds in New Zealand, in particular, were excellent throughout, the players have been backed in the newspapers - and their team has responded with the tournament's highest run-scorer Guptill, joint-highest wicket taker Boult and eight successive wins. 

Perhaps inevitably, though, Australia won the one which really mattered - and Clarke has thus joined Allan Border, Steve Waugh, and Ricky Ponting as a World Cup-winning Baggy Green skipper. 

Yes, while the rest of the world can only look once again, Australia just keep on winning and winning regardless. Ominously, it is a habit they do not look like losing anytime soon.

WORLD CUP STATS 
Full results
 
BATTING
TOP 10 AGGREGATES
547 Martin Guptill (New Zealand)
541 Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)
482 AB de Villiers (South Africa)
433 Brendan Taylor (Zimbabwe)
412 Shikhar Dhawan (India)
402 Steve Smith (Australia)
395 Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka)
380 Faf du Plessis (South Africa)
365 Mohammad Mahmudullah (Bangladesh)
350 Misbah ul-Haq (Pakistan)
 
HIGHEST AVERAGES minimum three innings
108.20 Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)
96.40 AB de Villiers (South Africa)
80.00 Sarfraz Ahmed (Pakistan)
73.00 Mohammad Mahmudullah (Bangladesh)
72.16 Brendan Taylor (Zimbabwe)
68.37 Martin Guptill (New Zealand)
67.80 Sean Williams (Zimbabwe)
67.00 Steve Smith (Australia)
65.83 Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka)
64.80 David Miller (South Africa)
 
LIST OF CENTURY MAKERS
237* Martin Guptill (New Zealand) off 163 balls v West Indies in Wellington (QF)
215 Chris Gayle (West Indies) off 147 balls v Zimbabwe in Canberra
178 David Warner (Australia) off 133 balls v Afghanistan in Perth
162* AB de Villiers (South Africa) off 66 balls v West Indies in Sydney
161* Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka) off 146 balls v Bangladesh in Melbourne
159 Hashim Amla (South Africa) off 128 balls v Ireland in Canberra
156 Kyle Coetzer (Scotland) off 134 balls v Bangladesh in Nelson
139* Lahiru Thirimanne (Sri Lanka) off 143 balls v England in Wellington
138* David Miller (South Africa) off 92 balls v Zimbabwe in Hamilton 
138 Brendan Taylor (Zimbabwe) off 110 balls v India in Auckland
137 Shikhar Dhawan (India) off 146 balls v South Africa in Melbourne 
137 Rohit Sharma (India) off 126 balls v Bangladesh in Melbourne (QF)
135 Aaron Finch (Australia) off 128 balls v England in Melbourne
133* Marlon Samuels (West Indies) off 146 balls v Zimbabwe in Canberra
128 Moeen Ali (England) off 107 balls v Scotland in Christchurch
128* Mahmudullah (Bangladesh) off 123 balls v New Zealand in Hamilton
124 Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) off 95 balls v Scotland in Hobart
121 Joe Root (England) off 108 balls v Sri Lanka in Wellington
121 Brendan Taylor (Zimbabwe) off 91 balls v Ireland in Hobart
117* Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) off 86 balls v England in Wellington
115* JP Duminy (South Africa) off 100 balls v Zimbabwe in Hamilton
112 Ed Joyce (Ireland) off 103 balls v Zimbabwe in Hobart
110 Suresh Raina (India) off 104 balls v Zimbabwe in Auckland
109 Faf du Plessis (South Africa) off 109 balls v Ireland in Canberra
107 Virat Kohli (India) off 126 balls v Pakistan in Adelaide
107 William Porterfield (Ireland) off 131 balls v Pakistan in Adelaide
106 Shaiman Anwar (UAE) off 83 balls v Ireland in Brisbane
105* Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) off 76 balls v Bangladesh in Melbourne
105 Martin Guptill (New Zealand) off 100 balls v Bangladesh in Hamilton
105 Steve Smith (Australia) off 93 balls v India in Sydney (SF)
104 Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) off 107 balls v Australia in Sydney
104 Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka) off 99 balls v Scotland in Hobart
103 Mahmudullah (Bangladesh) off 138 balls v England in Adelaide
102 Lendl Simmons (West Indies) off 84 balls v Ireland in Nelson
102 Glenn Maxwell (Australia) off 53 balls v Sri Lanka in Sydney
101 Sarfraz Ahmed (Pakistan) off 124 balls v Ireland in Adelaide
100 Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka) off 120 balls v Afghanistan in Dunedin
100 Shikhar Dhawan (India) off 85 balls v Ireland in Hamilton

BOWLING
TOP 12 WICKET TAKERS
22 Mitchell Starc (Australia), Trent Boult (New Zealand)
18 Umesh Yadav (India)
17 Mohammed Shami (India), Morne Morkel (South Africa), Jerome Taylor (West Indies)
16 Wahab Riaz (Pakistan)
15 Daniel Vettori (New Zealand), Josh Davey (Scotland), Imran Tahir (South Africa), Mitchell Johnson (Australia), Tim Southee (New Zealand)
 
LOWEST AVERAGES minimum three innings
10.18 Mitchell Starc (Australia) - man of the tournament
13.80 Mitchell Marsh (Australia)
14.44 Kyle Abbott (South Africa)
16.71 Corey Anderson (New Zealand)
16.86 Trent Boult (New Zealand)
17.29 Mohammad Shami (India)
17.58 Morne Morkel (South Africa)
17.83 Umesh Yadav (India)
18.85 Richie Berrington (Scotland)
19.29 Jerome Taylor (West Indies)

LIST OF FIVE-FERS
7-33 Tim Southee (New Zealand) v England in Wellington
6-28 Mitchell Starc (Australia) v New Zealand in Auckland
5-27 Trent Boult (New Zealand) v Australia in Auckland
5-33 Mitchell Marsh (Australia) v England in Melbourne
5-45 Imran Tahir (South Africa) v West Indies in Sydney
5-55 Sohail Khan (Pakistan) v India in Adelaide
5-71 Steven Finn (England) v Australia in Melbourne

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