Australia has asserted its supremacy once again by lifting its fourth world cup and third consecutive one. In the rain-shortened match Adam Gilchrist propelled Australian innings with a magnificent century. Lankan Lions gave spirited chase but eventually could not match upto the mammoth total posted by Australians. Their success can be attributed to self-belief, mental toughness, continuous urge to raise the standards and superior fitness backed by strong domestic structure and playing skills.
Australians have the habit of intimidating opposition teams by its aggressive batting. They have a specific plan of upsetting opposition bowlers by attacking from the very first ball of the innings. This is what they have done against Srilanka and also had done this earlier against India in previous cup finals. If it was Ricky Ponting in last world cup finals, it is Gilchrist in this world cup final.
Chasing a big total that too in world cup finals is always difficult. Srilanka was upto the challenge. Jayasuriya and Sangakkara played superbly to bring about a greatest turnaround but that was not to be. Once their partnership was broken it was obvious that who the winner was. Gilchrist tornado and partially rain & luck factor defeated Srilanka. I am not taking anything away from Australians. I am just saying that if weather was fine and Srilanka batted first and had scored over 270 runs it would have been a different story.
Finals: Aus vs SL
McGrath had a dream cricketing career. His farewell in both test cricket and one-day internationals was really a fairy tale one. He deservedly got the player of the tournament award. Australian players topped both the batting and bowling charts. Without any notable contribution from Symmonds, Hussey and Watson they have won this world cup.
Who will stop this Aussie juggernaut? Who will stand up and say, “We are going to replace Australia and dominate the world cricket”? I am looking forward to that day.
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