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Business News/ Industry / Australia wins fifth World Cup title in fitting farewell to captain Clarke
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Australia wins fifth World Cup title in fitting farewell to captain Clarke

James Faulkner named man of the match for his spell of 3-36; Mitchell Starc wins player of the tournament for his 22 wickets

Australia’s captain Michael Clarke (centre) holds aloft the cricket World Cup trophy as he celebrates with team mates after they defeated New Zealand in the final match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Photo: ReutersPremium
Australia’s captain Michael Clarke (centre) holds aloft the cricket World Cup trophy as he celebrates with team mates after they defeated New Zealand in the final match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Photo: Reuters

Melbourne: There are many things to admire about Australia: its egalitarianism and openness, the sheer majesty of the landscape. But the country must take the blame for singularly making World Cup finals so uncompetitive. Does any team bring its A-game on the grand occasion so well? Is any other team so impervious to the pressure of the biggest game of all?

Australia in World Cup finals since 1999, all of them won by a country mile, has been defined by a lack of nervousness. They have arrived battle-ready from the first ball, no looseners needed. “The Australian way has always been about the big games," said captain Michael Clarke after lifting the trophy. “We grow up wanting to perform on the grand stage."

So it was against New Zealand. Nearly every bowler who has faced Brendon McCullum in this World Cup has had his confidence shot even before marking his run-up. Some, like the great Dale Steyn, have had that moment after an over or two of unremitting savagery.

In the pressure of a final, a typical McCullum assault might have undone this Australian team. Mitchell Starc set about his task with the confidence and surgical accuracy that have defined his tournament. His first ball to McCullum missed the off-stump by a whisker. The second whistled past him as the New Zealand captain found himself cramped for room. The third knocked his off stump back. In his three-ball stay at the crease, McCullum’s bat never made contact with the ball.

“We had to sort of assess him as he went because he’s very unpredictable," said Starc, after being named man of the tournament. “It was a bit of a planning game with (bowling coach) Craig McDermott about just bowling in pace and yorker to him first up, and I’m not sure how that first one missed, but lucky the third one hit."

McCullum’s dismissal struck a psychological blow for the World Cup final debutants. As Australia brought the confidence of their past success, riding the crest of a partisan home crowd in excess of 90,000, New Zealand appeared subdued by the occasion. Martin Guptill, who racked up the highest score in World Cup history last weekend, was bowled by a delivery that probably deserved the fence. Kane Williamson, whose spiritual calm perfectly complements the aggression of the rest of the New Zealand batting, offered a tame catch back to Mitchell Johnson. At 39 for three, the game already invoked memories of 1999 when Pakistan were swatted away for 132.

The 111-run partnership of Grant Elliott and Ross Taylor seemed to allay those fears. After 35 overs, they had taken New Zealand to 150 for three. Just as the game seemed set up for the Kiwis to attain a total upwards of 250—a daunting target in the vastness of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and the pressure of a final—the Australian attack struck a decisive blow.

This is a relentless bowling line-up: Starc, Johnson, Josh Hazlewood and James Faulkner are differentiated by variety but defined by discipline. In a World Cup dominated by batsmen, Australia showed that in the end bowlers proved the difference. “I think we’ve worked really hard at our bowling not only in the World Cup but leading up to it," Starc said. “To see it come off, I think every bowler who’s bowled in the tournament, not just the guys who played the final, it’s been fantastic."

Faulkner’s removal of Taylor and Corey Anderson in the 36th over was the equivalent of spiking a Ferrari’s tyres just as it looked to accelerate towards the chequered flag. Starc added Luke Ronchi to the casualties list in the next. The second powerplay yielded 15 runs for the loss of three wickets.

Once Elliott was dismissed in the 42nd over, New Zealand’s hopes of posting even a competitive target evaporated. Australia’s coup de grace came in the 45th; the last seven Kiwi wickets had been snared for only 33 runs.

183, read the Kiwi total, the significance of the number perhaps recognized most by Indian fans. It was the total posted by the team led by Kapil Dev on a Lord’s afternoon in 1983. Could there be a repeat?

Trent Boult’s removal of Aaron Finch in the second over encouraged those sentiments, and the feeling grew further when David Warner holed out in the deep, in a manner not too different from Viv Richards more than three decades ago, with the score still at 63. Shortly after, Steven Smith turned a delivery from Matt Henry onto his stumps, but the bails did not budge. On such tiny details hinges sporting history: who knew what could have happened had the opposite been the case? But that was to prove New Zealand’s last opportunity of making inroads into the final.

In the end, Australia were not a complacent West Indies, used to picking up World Cups at Lord’s every four years. Both India and New Zealand had been unbeaten, seemingly possessed of what looked like unstoppable momentum, until they ran into the tow truck called Australia.

They have now lifted the World Cup on each continent that the sport is played in, an achievement that must rank alongside the West Indies’ 15-year-long unbroken run in Test cricket. Australia has joined Brazil, that other nation in the southern hemisphere, proficient in that other popular sport, as five-time world champions. Maybe it has something to do with the colour yellow.

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Published: 29 Mar 2015, 04:26 PM IST
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