Australia Crowned World Champions for the 5th Time!

ICC Cricket World Cup Final 2015: Australia vs New Zealand at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne on 29th March 2015 - Match Review

Australia beat New Zealand by 7 wickets at MCG to win the 2015 World Cup.

The D day had finally arrived. After 6 weeks of some pretty riveting cricket the two best teams had reached the final. It was to be played at one of the most iconic cricket grounds in the world – the MCG. Some 90,000 spectators were expected to fill the huge stands and fill they did, those stands were all a vast sea of green and yellow spattered with black and beige!

Kiwi skipper Brendon McCullum won the toss and decided to bat first. That gave them a chance to put pressure on the Australians by putting a decent score on the board and then let their in-form bowlers and pressure do the rest. Brendon McCullum faced up to Starc after Guptill took a single off the second ball and that was when the first big face off of the day took place. McCullum swung and missed at the first ball which just missed his off stump. He charged the second time around but still could not lay bat to ball as it swung a tad on its way to Brad Haddin. It was third time lucky for the Australians and Starc who rattled the stumps with a deadly yorker that McCullum missed again and the Aussies were off on a celebratory run!!

It was all nervy stuff after that for Kane Williamson and Martin Guptill as Starc bowled with fire and looked like taking a wicket with every delivery. Guptill top edged a pull for 6 off Hazlewood that gave the Kiwis some momentary relief and Kane played a lovely straight drive. Just when things seemed to be easing up with Clarke introducing Maxwell, Guptill played back to see his off peg being rattled. Williamson chipped a tame return catch to Johnson 2 overs later as New Zealand slumped to 39-3 in the 13th over and starring down the barrel.

But Ross Taylor and the hero of the semi final for the black caps, Grant Elliott steadied the rocking ship with some cool and calm batting as they collected the singles and twos regularly and kept the score ticking over. Elliott was the more comfortable partner of the two and he looked in ominous form almost carrying off from that six he hit off Steyn the other day.

New Zealand had reached 150-3 when the powerplay was taken at the end of the 35th over. They seemed to have recovered sufficiently to lay a charge on the Australians in the last 15 and a score of around 300 looked on the cards. All that changed in a matter of a few balls as Faulkner first induced a nick off Taylor the first ball of the powerplay. Corey Anderson was the cleaned up the very next ball, a fast yorker pinging his off stump. When Ronchi was caught off Clarke at first slip off Starc in the next over, the match had turned on its head. New Zealand were now 151-6 and looked down and out.

Grant Elliott tried to take a few risks as he ran out of partners and he was the 8th wicket to fall with the score on 171, he made a superb 83 off just 82 balls. The Kiwi innings ended with a brilliance of flash in the field by Glenn Maxwell who fielded the ball at short mid-wicket and hurled it at the non strikers end to catch Tim Southee short of his ground. New Zealand could only make 183. They had slipped from 150-3 to 183 all out losing their last 7 wickets for just 33 runs.

New Zealand still could make a match out of this as they had the bowlers and an aggressive captain who backed them to a hilt. Boult swung the ball in to Aaron Finch in the second over and he just inside edged it on to his pads which lobbed up for a simple caught and bowled. Australia 2-1. In walked Steven Smith, the man who had made a half century in the quarter final and a century in the semi final and he looked in fine touch once again. David Warner was a bit nervy and edgy but he too was soon hitting the ball right of the middle of his big, heavy bat.

Australia were cruising but Warner pulled one straight down mid-wickets throat off Matt Henry as Australia were 63-2 in the 13th over. That brought their captain to the crease for the final time in yellow cloths for Australia and he looked nervous. Short balls have troubled him lately and McCullum attacked him with plenty of short bowling. He placed ultra attacking fields too; 3 slips, a gully, a short cover and a short point for Clarke. But Clarke battled through and was soon hitting the ball as sweetly as he has ever hit. As the target got within sight Clarke decided to up the ante. He hit Southee for 4 consecutive boundaries in an over and then Smith got to his 5th consecutive fifty in the next over. But Clarke could not witness either Smith’s 50 from the other end neither could he hit the winning runs as he chopped one onto his stumps from the impressive Henry.

He walked off to a rapturous applause from the 93,000 strong fans voicing their support for him. The chase was sealed by Smith as he pulled a short Southee delivery to mid-wicket for a 4. The World Cup had been wrested back from India and Australia had won the World Cup for the 5th time!

All smiles for the Australian team as they lift the World Cup after

beating New Zealand by 7 wickets at the MCG

James Faulkner won the man of the match award for his game changing spell and Mitchell Starc won the man of the series as he ended up as the joint leading wicket taker along with Trent Boult. Both the awards were handed by the master blaster, Sachin Tendulkar. Michael Clarke made a reference to Phil Hughes when he emotionally and with a lump in his throat mentioned, ‘We dedicate this World Cup win to our little brother Phil Hughes’. A big pat on the back to him for that and respect too!!

And so, it ended. The cricket carnival has come to an end with Australia being crowned the World Champions for a staggering 5th time! Congratulations to them!

As for me I will do a few more posts on the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 before bringing down curtains on what has been the most prolific period for me and my blog.

PS - The image used is courtesy www.espncricinfo.com

Trans Tasman Rivals to Clash for the Prestigious World Champions Crown!

Final: Australia vs New Zealand at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne on 29th March 2015 - Match Preview

It has come down to this, finally. The two host nations, Australia and New Zealand will battle it out for the ODI World Cup 2015 in Melbourne at the iconic MCG in front of expected 90,000 screaming fans. Both the have taken similar routes to the Final, Australia beaten only once throughout their campaign (New Zealand defeated them by a solitary wicket at Auckland) while New Zealand have been unbeaten and have an unblemished record. Let us look at how the two teams stack up for this mother of all matches.

The Australian opening pair have had a few good games but they have generally thrown away their wickets at the top of the order. Aaron Finch started with a blistering ton against ashes rivals England and then contributed in the semi final against India where he made a slow 81. Warner has started brightly but has failed to carry on to make a substantial score except when he made 170 odd against the Afghans at Perth.

Steven Smith was the man in form for the Australians and he has prospered at number 3. He made a vital half century in the Quarter Final against Pakistan and then followed that up with a stunning century against India in the Semi Final at SCG. His wicket will probably be the most sought after by the Kiwi bowlers. Michael Clarke has not looked comfortable in the middle against the short ball and is sure to be targeted by the New Zealand quicks.

Glenn Maxwell has also been making runs quite consistently and will hold the key in the later overs along with Shane Watson and James Faulkner.

The Kiwi bowling is spearheaded by their left arm quick Trent Boult (it was he who decimated Australia in Auckland with a spell of 5-3-3-5) who has managed to extract swing in New Zealand conditions and right arm Tim Southee who is quick through the air and is also capable of moving the ball both ways. How these two fare against the Aussie top order, whether they will be able to swing the ball, will hold the key to how much Australia can score in the early overs.

Matt Henry was superb as he was thrown in the mix after Adam Milne was injured and was ruled out with an injury. He bowled with pace and accuracy and made run making extremely difficult for the South Africans in their epic Semi Final clash. He is a good foil as a first change to Boult and Southee.

Michael Clarke will be playing in his last ODI and Brendon McCullum plays every ODI like it is his last! Who will hold that trophy aloft tomorrow at the hallowed MCG?

Daniel Vettori will be probably playing his final international match and what a dream script the bespectacled man is writing for himself. He has been stingy with his bowling, getting wickets and tying down the batsmen where generally the batsmen have run amok. He also made a vital little contribution with the bat at the end of their Semi Final win against the Proteas. He will be looking to go out on a high and the big MCG boundaries will help him no doubt.

Brendon McCullum has not defended a single ball probably and he will attack from ball one in the final as well. He is capable of clearing any ground in the world and his assault on Johnson and Starc in Auckland will be fresh in the Aussie minds. Martin Guptill is also in form as he made that blistering 237* against the West Indies in the Quarter Final.

Kane Williamson was the batsmen who I had thought would take the batting of New Zealand by storm and lead the run scoring charts but his blade has been silent up until now. He will be hoping to have the final say in this important match. Ross Taylor, Corey Anderson and last match hero Grant Elliot will shore up the middle order for the Kiwis and they are all in decent form having made runs recently and under pressure as well. There is also Luke Ronchi who will play against the team he has formerly played for and will add some extra spice to the whole affair.

The Aussie bowling is also led by a left arm bowler who has taken the World Cup by storm. Mitchell Starc, with his swing, pace and toe crushing yorkers has been impossible to get away and he was the one who nearly snatched victory for the Australians by claiming 6 wickets in Auckland earlier in the World Cup. Josh Hazlewood is a good foil for Starc as he generally bowls line and length stuff and forces the batsmen to make mistakes.

Any team that has Mitchell Johnson come in as first change has a seriously good bowling line up and the Australians certainly have that. Johnson was taken apart by McCullum in the game at Auckland and he will be itching top get one back against him. James Faulkner and Shane Watson will provide the medium pace options and both will be stump to stump and with a lot of variations thrown in. Maxwell will be the provider of part time spin for the Aussie's.

Key Battles: Australia vs New Zealand

Trent Boult and Tim Southee vs David Warner, Aaron Finch and Steven Smith

Mitchell Starc vs Brendon McCullum

Mitchell Johnson vs Ross Taylor

Matt Henry vs Michael Clarke

Daniel Vettori vs Glenn Maxwell

James Faulkner and Shane Watson vs Grant Elliot and Corey Anderson

These two teams have certainly provided us with some exceptional cricket over the past 50 days and will go toe to toe to claim victory. They have not played each other outside the ICC tournaments since 5-6 years which adds further intrigue to this battle. McCullum and Clarke are both known to be aggressive captains and it will certainly be a spectacle to see them go head to head. Man to man, Australia look stronger but really there is very little to choose from between these two neighbors. I hope that we get to see an exceptionally close and well played final, one that will remain in our minds for a long long time to come.