When the ball ricochets onto the stumps off the body and/or the bat of the batsman and the bails remain rooted on the ridges of the stumps, we know that dame luck’s smiling on the batsman. When it happens twice in the same innings, we know that dame luck had decided to wear gold on the final day of the International Cricket Council’s World Cup 2015.
Australian opener David Warner and man in form Steve Smith were the lucky benefactors whose bails were not dislodged by balls that trickled on to the stumps, but luck turned out to be a very small factor in Australia’s march to wining the Cup. They looked unassailable and there was no doubt that they were the best team in the competition.
The best team in the tournament won
Their team combination was near perfect and their form was far above any other team, particularly on their home grounds. The hoo-haa that was created around the fight that Brendon McCullum’s Kiwis had in mind in order to turn the tables on their hosts became a damp squib when the skipper found himself back in the dugout on the fifth ball of the first over bowled by Mitchell Starc.
If a section of the Australian media had labelled the semi-final against India a “one-team phoney war”, one wonders how the final will be branded. Those in India who thought India did not perform to expectations at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the semi-final got a glimpse of the kind of form team Australia is in.
Even those who believe that the semi-final result would have been different had India batted first will now realise how Australia throttled the in-form Kiwis who had opted to bat first on winning the toss on a good batting pitch.
Ruthless, as always
If they were clinical in the approach against India at Sydney, we saw Australia ruthless against their Tasman adversaries at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Just as they had strangled the Indians with constant pressure piled on by their bowlers, here too they never allowed the big-hitting Kiwis any space to play their shots.
The way they got rid off McCullum, Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi – all dangerous shot makers – shows how prepared they were. Apart from South African born Grant Elliot, no other Kiwi batsman could make inroads into the Aussie attack.
The Australian batsmen did not disappoint the 91,000 fans at the ground, most of them sporting the team’s gold colours. They kept attacking the Kiwis with smart cricket. The New Zealand bowlers, on the other hand, did not help their own cause by bowling short and playing right into the hands of the Aussies who have been weaned on that sort of bowling.
Impeccable planning
Luck, as one said earlier, was an also ran in the great Australian win. It looked as though they had a contingency plan if dame luck looked down upon them. Their planning was impeccable and, each and every member of the team contributed to the team’s momentum right through the tournament.
Winning a semi-final by 95 runs against a rejuvenated India and thrashing New Zealand by seven wickets, with 101 balls remaining, in the final just shows the dominance of team Australia in the one-day format. It is a testament to the hard work of their skipper Michael Clarke and the support staff led by Darren Lehmann who converted a bunch of talented youngsters into a world-beating outfit.
Clarke, whose selection in the team was discussed and criticised widely before the tournament began crowned his career by leading his team to win the ultimate silverware the world of cricket has to offer. The Cup final was his last day in the office as a one-day international player. And what a day it was for him, his teammates and Australian cricket fans from around the world.
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
Australian opener David Warner and man in form Steve Smith were the lucky benefactors whose bails were not dislodged by balls that trickled on to the stumps, but luck turned out to be a very small factor in Australia’s march to wining the Cup. They looked unassailable and there was no doubt that they were the best team in the competition.
The best team in the tournament won
Their team combination was near perfect and their form was far above any other team, particularly on their home grounds. The hoo-haa that was created around the fight that Brendon McCullum’s Kiwis had in mind in order to turn the tables on their hosts became a damp squib when the skipper found himself back in the dugout on the fifth ball of the first over bowled by Mitchell Starc.
If a section of the Australian media had labelled the semi-final against India a “one-team phoney war”, one wonders how the final will be branded. Those in India who thought India did not perform to expectations at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the semi-final got a glimpse of the kind of form team Australia is in.
Even those who believe that the semi-final result would have been different had India batted first will now realise how Australia throttled the in-form Kiwis who had opted to bat first on winning the toss on a good batting pitch.
Ruthless, as always
If they were clinical in the approach against India at Sydney, we saw Australia ruthless against their Tasman adversaries at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Just as they had strangled the Indians with constant pressure piled on by their bowlers, here too they never allowed the big-hitting Kiwis any space to play their shots.
The way they got rid off McCullum, Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi – all dangerous shot makers – shows how prepared they were. Apart from South African born Grant Elliot, no other Kiwi batsman could make inroads into the Aussie attack.
The Australian batsmen did not disappoint the 91,000 fans at the ground, most of them sporting the team’s gold colours. They kept attacking the Kiwis with smart cricket. The New Zealand bowlers, on the other hand, did not help their own cause by bowling short and playing right into the hands of the Aussies who have been weaned on that sort of bowling.
Impeccable planning
Luck, as one said earlier, was an also ran in the great Australian win. It looked as though they had a contingency plan if dame luck looked down upon them. Their planning was impeccable and, each and every member of the team contributed to the team’s momentum right through the tournament.
Winning a semi-final by 95 runs against a rejuvenated India and thrashing New Zealand by seven wickets, with 101 balls remaining, in the final just shows the dominance of team Australia in the one-day format. It is a testament to the hard work of their skipper Michael Clarke and the support staff led by Darren Lehmann who converted a bunch of talented youngsters into a world-beating outfit.
Clarke, whose selection in the team was discussed and criticised widely before the tournament began crowned his career by leading his team to win the ultimate silverware the world of cricket has to offer. The Cup final was his last day in the office as a one-day international player. And what a day it was for him, his teammates and Australian cricket fans from around the world.