History of the ICC cricket World Cup: Australia’s legacy (Part 3)
In the end, South Africa were left needing nine runs to get off the last over with just one wicket in hand. In-form all-rounder http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Lance-Klusener-c72175, the eventual player of the tournament, was to face the final over from Damien Fleming. Klusener struck consecutive
boundaries off the initial two deliveries of the over to leave his side requiring just one run to win the match off four balls. As fate would have it, Australia managed to take the final wicket through a dreadful run-out caused by some confusion between South
African batsmen. As the match ended in a draw, Australia progressed through to the final because of a superior net run-rate.
Australia faced Pakistan in the final. In a disappointing batting display, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Adam-Gilchrist-c918
made sure that Pakistan couldn’t stage a comeback. The wicket-keeper batsman scored a brilliant 54 off just 36 balls to secure Australia’s second World Cup trophy.
2003 ICC World Cup
The 2003 tournament presented the mighty Australian team with no real challenges. They cruised past the group stages and the Super Six round unbeaten to reach the semi-final against Sri Lanka.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758’s reply was interrupted by
rain and their target was revised to 172 from 38.1 overs. The Asian giants failed to reach the target and managed to score just 123 runs for the loss of seven wickets. The win secured Australia’s place in the World Cup final yet again where they faced India.
Captain Ricky Ponting starred for Australia in the final, as he hammered the Indian bowling to score an unbeaten 140 runs off 121 balls. Australia lost only two wickets in their innings and set http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 a mammoth target of 360 runs to win. India were never
in the match as they kept losing wicket in an attempt to keep up with the run-rate. The Indian innings ended in the 40th over, as the Men in Blue only managed to get to 234. The victory gave Australia consecutive World Cup titles, as they bagged
their third World Cup trophy; the most by any team at the time. They were to improve on that record in the next tournament.
2007 ICC World Cup
The Australian team continued their winning streak in the World Cup in the 2007 competition. Australia reached the semi-final of the event without losing any match in the group and Super Eight stages.
The semi-final of the 2007 tournament was a rematch of the epic 1999 semi-final fixture between Australia and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757. This time around however, South Africa failed to challenge the reigning world champions. The Proteas scored only 149 runs batting
first as they looked helpless in front of the Australian bowlers. Australia reached the target in the 32nd over to set up a final match against Sri Lanka.
The final was reduced to 38 overs a side due to heavy rain before the match. Like the 1996 final between the two sides, Australia batted first. This time around however, Australia bludgeoned the Sri Lankan bowling attack, to end up with 281 for four wickets
in the allotted 38 overs. Gilchrist smashed the ball to all parts of the ground, scoring 149 of 104 balls.
Sri Lanka’s run chase was again interrupted by rain and the innings was then reduced to 36 overs. The game ended in a bizarre fashion in almost pitch darkness, as Sri Lanka managed to score only 215 runs for the loss of eight wickets in 36 overs. That gave
Australia their third consecutive World Cup title, and increased their overall tally to four.
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