Australia Wins World Cup

After being delayed by rain for several hours, the final was reduced to 38 overs per side, before further rain reduced the Sri Lankan innings to 36 overs, meaning that the match was completed in almost total darkness.

For many, this tournament had gone on too long, and it was absurdly fitting that the final should also have dragged on beyond any reasonable measure. Bizarrely, had the Sri Lankans not sportingly returned to the field in appalling light, the teams would have had to return tomorrow to play out the three remaining overs.

But the farcical finale could not diminish from Australia’s win, their historic hat-trick of victories and the performance of Adam Gilchrist in particular. Having won the toss and elected to bat on an apparent belter at a time when it appeared that each team would receive its full compliment of 50 overs, Ricky Ponting would have been concerned that a further rain delay might lead to his decision backfiring. He need not have worried. All tournament Gilchrist had flattered to deceive, often making starts but not going on with the job. Today, he delivered in style.

In his previous two World Cup finals, Gilchrist had produced half-centuries. He went so much further today, finishing with a scintillating 149 from only 104 balls and sharing an opening partnership with Matthew Hayden of 172 from 23 overs. Such was Gilchrist’s dominance of Australia’s innings that Hayden’s 38 was the next top score, while Ponting made 37 and Andrew Symonds 23 not out. Each of the other batsmen appeared to struggle on a pitch which was not as easy to bat on as Gilchrist’s innings made it appear. But it did not matter – at the conclusion of its 38 overs, Australia finished on four for 281, setting Sri Lanka an unlikely, but not impossible, 7.4 runs per over for victory.

Such was the violence of Gilchrist’s assault that it is easy to forget that after ten overs, Australia had not yet reached 50. During the opening overs, Lasith Malinga clearly puzzled the Aussie openers with his unusual action and unerring line and length, his first three overs conceding only three runs.

By contrast, Chaminda Vaas came in for some early punishment from Gilchrist, who took the veteran left armer’s second over for 12. This prompted Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene to call early on Dilhara Fernando, on whom Gilchrist was particularly severe. Even the early introduction of the wizardly off-spin of Muttiah Muralitharan did not slow the rate, which began to alarmingly climb above six per over, despite Jayawardene deferring his optional power play until the 19th over.

By this time, Hayden and Gilchrist were both well set, however, Hayden was not at his bullying best in this match. Whilst hardly scratching around in scoring 38 from 55 balls, Hayden had difficulty in timing his big shots and it was no surprise to see him mis-time to cover where Jayawardene took a smart over-head catch.

Even Ricky Ponting was at less than his fluent best when he first arrived, but it simply did not matter. Gilchrist, in the uninhibited manner which has always characterised his best innings, reached his century in 72 balls faced. It was an astonishing display of power hitting which effectively took the game away from Sri Lanka. Once he reached his hundred, he continued bludgeoning the bowling before being well held off Fernando by Silva after skying another attempted six. Departing to a standing ovation, Gilchrist had struck a century in boundaries – 13 fours and eight sixes. Here was a great player, probably past his best, but reprising his best form when it mattered most to his team. Such was his mastery of the bowling that the great Sir Vivian Richards, commentating on Caribbean radio, remarked that this World Cup final had seen hitting the likes of which is usually seen only in a benefit match.

Following Gilchrist,s departure, the Sri Lankan bowlers demonstrated their renowned ability to strangle batting sides with clever spin and astute changes of pace. Only three boundaries were struck in the last six overs of Australia,s innings as both Ponting and Shane Watson sacrificed their wickets in the best interests of the team, leaving Symonds and Michael Clarke (eight not out) to see out the innings. Curiously, umpire Aleem Dar saw fit to call dead ball after Clarke hit a single from his first ball – ruling that the batsman had run down the wicket after the umpire had warned Ponting for the same misdemeanour before the skipper’s run out by Jayawardene. Whilst within his rights to do so, it was a particularly officious ruling from umpire Dar, as Clarke had backed slightly away to leg to strike the ball through cover and his weight carried him down the wicket for what only appeared a short period before he traversed to the leg side.

Of the bowlers, Malinga was easily the best. His raw pace and improved accuracy, combined with his unusual slinging action have made him a revelation at this World Cup. Nevertheless, the fact that even he went for 6.12 runs per over and was the most economical bowler on offer confirms that no bowler was spared by Gilchrist.

Setting out in pursuit of so daunting a target, Sri Lanka began with a bang, Upul Tharanga belting Nathan Bracken’s first ball of the innings over cover for four. Unfortunately, he ended his largely disappointing World Cup shortly thereafter, caught behind from the same bowler for six with the score at seven.

Australia opened the bowling with Shaun Tait ahead of retiring legend Glenn McGrath, in the hope that his extra pace would unsettle Sanath Jayasuriya on a supposedly bouncy pitch. The ploy failed, as Tait’s third over went for 16 runs, mostly from the bat of Jayasuriya, whom the Australians and Sri Lankans alike knew was the man who really had to fire if the Lions were to succeed in their chase. As Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara began to prosper, the comparison showed Sri Lanka ahead of Australia through eight, then ten, then twelve overs. Ponting delayed his second power play only one over before bringing the field in, and the batsmen responded with a Gilchrist-like attack which saw Sri Lanka’s second fifty come up in only 27 balls. By this time, it was apparent that the Aussies were getting edgy, their body language betraying that the ghosts of the recent Chappell-Hadlee series, where they conceded two huge run-chases, had not been completely laid to rest. Watson, Tait and even McGrath were all expensive as the explosive Jayasuriya and the elegant Sangakkara began to make a serious attack on the target.

Unfortunately for Sri Lanka, Brad Hogg came to Australia’s aid, as he had so often in this tournament when Australia needed a wicket. He dragged down a ball which Sangakkara tried to pull but which he only succeeded in stroking to Ponting at mid-wicket. He was on his way for a seemingly effortless 54 from 52 balls.

Such was the treatment which his fast men had been dealt, Ponting was forced to introduce the seemingly innocuous left arm orthodox spin of Michael Clarke in only the 23rd over, and it proved a masterstroke. Jayasuriya, on 63 from only 67 balls faced, went back to pull a short ball which failed to bounce and cannoned into middle stump. So low did the ball hit that it almost bounced a second time after passing the batsman. The rattle of the stumps was also the death-knell of any serious challenge by Sri Lanka, for although Jayawardene had been stroking the ball sweetly, Jayasuriya was the player who really needed to make a hundred for Sri Lanka to win. Worse for the Lions, the weather was once again closing in and the light rapidly failing. With Jayawardene and Silva both new to the crease, the required run-rate began to climb, and as the clouds closed in, the Duckworth-Lewis total got further away. Soon the players were off the field with the score at 149 for 3 in the 25th over and the required rate soaring at 10.5 runs per over.

After approximately 10 minutes, the players returned, and the high farce began. Jayawardene understandably informed the umpires that his team did not know what total it was chasing, or from how many overs, and it was only after the players had been back on the field for some time that the officials deigned to tell anyone that two overs had been lost and what the revised target was. Eventually it became apparent that the target had been reduced to 269 from 36 overs.

Upon resumption, Jayawardene was soon out, lbw to Watson to a ball which may have been missing leg stump. Soon after, Silva was run out by Clarke’s smart throw from backward point to McGrath at the bowler’s end, and the game was well and truly up.

To Sri Lanka’s credit, they continued battling on, even after being offered the light by the umpires as twilight gathered over Kingston. The great McGrath returned to capture his last international wicket – Russel Arnold caught skying a pull shot by Gilchrist from a full toss. Eventually though, the batsmen accepted the umpires’ offer of the light with three overs to go and the Australians began celebrating as the groundsmen began assembling the stage for the presentation.

At this point, the umpires intervened to inform the players that, as there were three overs left, if they did not return to the ground to finish the match, everyone (except, presumably the crowd) would have to return tomorrow to finish the game. By this time, it was plain that a valiant Sri Lanka could not succeed. Whilst the umpires really had no choice but to enforce the playing conditions, there is no reason why common sense could not have prevailed and stumps been drawn to preserve the dignity of both the contest and the contestants.

Fortunately, after Ponting and Jayawardene consulted, the players returned to finish the game in almost complete darkness. The remaining overs were bowled by Symonds and Clarke, and it was so dark that at one point Gilchrist appealed for leg before only to have bowler Clarke tell him that he and the umpire couldn’t see the other end of the pitch! When Malinga was stumped by Gilchrist off Symonds, the third umpire only just had enough light to make what would otherwise have been a clear-cut decision.

And so it came to pass that a once worthy final between the two best teams in cricket’s most important competition was reduced to pure farce by a combination of bad weather, poor light and inflexible administration. Jonathon Agnew, commentating the last over on BBC radio, thought that judging by Symonds celebrations he had bowled the batsman from the last ball of the match – he hadn’t, the ball having been defended in front of the wicket quite safely. It was just that he could not see any of the players in the middle of the pitch. Amid the gloom, Sri Lanka had finished on 215 for eight from its 36 overs.

The highly unusual finish to the match did not dampen Australia’s celebrations, and nor should it have. Despite being threatened through the first half of the run chase today, Ponting’s men have utterly dominated this tournament. Such was the form of the top order that Mike Hussey, the number one ranked ODI batsman in the world as at January this year, hardly had a hit. The closest they came to losing when chasing was victory by 16 balls with five wickets in hand. When batting first, they scored over 300 in every game they played, save their early match against Zimbabwe when they topped 290, the rain effected match against Bangladesh which was reduced to Twenty/20 proportions, and today’s game when they failed to post 300 by 19 runs, albeit that they only had 38 overs to bat. They provided the leading run scorer (Hayden), leading wicket-taker (McGrath) and man of the series (also McGrath).

It may be said that there were a number of minnows in this World Cup who were cannon fodder for the more established sides, but the fact is Australia hammered every team it played, and did so in a ruthless and clinical fashion. From 1999, its unbeaten run in World Cup matches extends to 29 games. If it loses its first game in 2011, it will be its first World Cup loss in 13 years. Australia has appeared in four finals in a row, and five of the past six. It is a record which speaks for itself.

Australia 281-4 (38)
Adam Gilchrist 149, Matthew Hayden 38, Ricky Ponting 37
Lasith Malinga 2-49, Dilhara Fernando 1-74

Sri Lanka 215-8 (36)
Sanath Jayasuriya 63, Kumar Sangakkara 54
Michael Clarke 2-33

Australia won by 53 runs
Cricket Web Man of the Match Adam Gilchrist
Cricket Web Man of the Series – Glenn McGrath