DHAKA: ICC World Cup 2015 co-host mighty Australia showed their supremacy in the cricket world once again clinching the World Cup championship for the fifth times beating New Zealand by seven wickets easily.
Chasing New Zealand-set small target of 184 runs, Australia reached the victory, scoring 184 for 33.1 overs at Melbourne Cricket Ground Sunday. Steven Smith scored the wining run of the match.
David Warner (45 off 46 balls) opened the Aussies’ innings with Aaron Finch on the other end. Trent Boult bowled the first over.
Finch got duck. In the forth ball of second over, Boult delivered an inswinger that played on to Finch’s his front pad, it looped back to the bowler. Boult easily caught the ball.
Steven Smith (56 off 71) came in. Warner was in another end. The pair built a 61-run partnership until Matt Henry stopped Warner in the second ball of 12th over.
Michael Clarke entered the filed. Clarke and Smith built the match’s big partnership, adding 76 to scoreboard. Henry hit again. He bowled out Clarke. The Aussies captain contributed 74 off 72.
Shane Watson came in. Watson and Smith took Australia to victory while Smith scored wining run. Australia finished at 186 fir three in 33.1 overs.
New Zealand’s Boult and Henry took one and two respectively.
Earlier, Australia seamers restricted New Zealand to 183 at the MCC.
New Zealand were all out in 44.5 overs. Grant Elliott hit a fitly, Ross Taylor added a forty while five Kiwis batsmen got duck.
Brendon McCullum began New Zealand’s innings with Martin Guptill (15 off 34) on the other end of the crease while Australia’s Mitchell Starc bowled the first over.
McCullum didn’t get much of a chance to make an impression, playing and missing at two balls of the first over from Starc before the third one smashed into his stumps.
Kane Williamson came the crease, began assisting another opener Guptill.
Good follow up work by Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Johnson helped Australia restrict the Kiwis to 1-31 after 10 overs.
Meantime, Guptill, who hit a World Cup record score of 237 not out against West Indies, became the top run-scorer of ICC World Cup 2015, overtaking Kumar Sangakkara (541) of Sri Lanka.
Guptill (15 off 34) had not stayed for long. In the eleventh over, Maxwell came to bowl. He stroke the second ball - a length ball, do not have much turn. Guptill had simply played the wrong line here. The ball crashed in to off stump. Maxwell took Guptill.
Ross Taylor (40 off 72) came in, began batting with Williamson.
But Williamson (12 off 33) did not do much. Johnson removed him in the second ball of the innings’ twelfth over. Johnson bowled a length ball. Williamson was early in defending, and easily dripped by Johnson.
Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott began batting then. They somewhat recovered the Kiwis’ damage. The pair built a 111-run partnership in the fourth wicket until Faulkner removed Taylor when New Zealand scored 150 runs in 35.1 overs.
Faulkner bowled a slower ball to Taylor. Aussies appealed for a catch at the wicket. Umpires went to the third umpire with no soft signal that time. That was a slower legcutter, nearly a yorker. Taylor looked to drive, and the ball lobed to Haddin's right.
The umpires checked on both counts: bumped ball and a clean catch. Replays showed the ball had pitched just before hitting Taylor's bat, took the outside edge, and the edge was soft, dying to Haddin's right. He flew to his right, took a stunning one-handed catch. Clutch players stroke first ball in the Powerplay.
Corey Anderson came in. Just two ball later, Faulkner also removed Anderson. Faulkner threw a quick yorker. Anderson was slow on this, got beaten for pace and had has squeezed it past the bat. The ball rushed away towards point after hitting the off stump. On replay, this was not quite a yorker, but a really full ball that kissed the pad and hit off stump.
Luke Ronchi entered the filed, bating batting with Elliot. Luke failed to do much. Starc took him early.
Starc came to bowl in the 36th over. In the second ball, Starc delivered a wide length one. Ronchi flashed hard, edged to Michel Clarke at slip, and was gone for a duck.
Daniel Vettori (9 off 21) came to the crease while Elliot was in crease then.
Johnson took Vettori’s wicket. In the last over of the 40th over, Johnson delivered a full inswinging yorker at a high pace. Off the round arm the ball came, dipping on, tailing back in. Vettori was late on it, was beaten on the inside edge, was hit on the pad, and the deflection rattles the stumps.
Tim Southee (11 off 21) replaced Vettori while Elliot was still there. But Elliot went no further. Faulkner removed him, the big wicket for Australia. Elliott stopped at 83 off 82 with seven four and a six.
In the first over of 41st over, Faulkner came with a slower ball that was so hard to pick because it came out with the seam up.
Elliot saw a length ball that he can hit over the leg side, but he was way too early into the shot. He got the outside edge, and Faulkner's back-of-the-hand slower ball always bounced extra, which means it carried to Haddin.
Matt Henry came in. Johnson removed him at the fifth ball of 44th over. In next ball Southee was run out by Glen Maxwell.
New Zealand finished at 183 runs in 45 overs.
Australia’s Johnson and Faulkner took three wickets each while Maxwell and Starc bagged one and two wickets respectively.
Australia captain Michael Clarke won the toss and decided to bat. The Aussies gained their fifth WC title while the Kiwis had no title yet.
BDST: 1635 HRS, MAR 29, 2015
