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After restricting New Zealand to 183/10 in 45 overs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Australia – riding on fifties from captain Michael Clarke (74 off 72) and Steven Smith (56* off 71) – chased down the target in 33.1 overs to win the 2015 World Cup. Grant Elliott top scored for the Kiwis with an 82-ball 83. Mitchell Johnson and James Faulkner picked up 3 wickets each to run through the middle order, while Mitchell Starc set up the game for his team by dismissing Kiwi captain Brendon McCullum for a duck in the first over of the match. Here are numbers that matter from the game:
#1 Kumar Dharmasena
Kumar Dharmasena, who was one of the two on-field umpires in the match today, has now featured in two ODI World Cup finals – as an umpire in one and as a player in another; he is the only player to have achieved the feat.
Dharmasena was part of the 1996 World Cup winning Sri Lankan team. He played as the team’s second spinner under the captaincy of Arjuna Ranatunga. The 43-year-old has represented his country in 141 ODIs, scoring 1222 runs and picking up 138 wickets.
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#2 Brendon McCullum\'s duck
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum was dismissed for a duck in the very first over of the match, which was bowled by Mitchell Starc: it is the lowest score ever made by a captain in a World Cup final. Given below is a list of top 5 lowest scores made by a captain in an ODI World Cup final:
| Player | Country | Score | Opposition | Edition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brendon McCullum | New Zealand | 0 | Australia | 2015 |
| Clive Llyod | West Indies | 8 | India | 1983 |
| Wasim Akram | Pakistan | 8 | Australia | 1999 |
| Clive Llyod | West Indies | 13 | England | 1979 |
| Kapil Dev | India | 15 | West Indies | 1983 |
#3 Grant Elliott and Steven Smith\'s special feats
New Zealand’s semi-final hero Grant Elliott came to his team’s rescue again today. He scored 83 runs off 82 balls and put together a 111-run stand with Ross Taylor to lift his team from 39/3 in 12.2 overs to 150-4 in 35 overs, before a terrible collapse brought a quick end to the Kiwis’ innings with just 183 runs on the board.
Elliott, who came into this match on the back of a match-winning 84* against South Africa, became only the 5th batsman to score back-to-back half-centuries in the semi-final and final of a single World Cup. Australian No.3 Steven Smith, too, joined the list later. Smith backed up his 105 against India with an unbeaten 56 today.
Only 4 other players have achieved the feat, and they are Mike Brearley (1979), David Boon (1987), Javed Miandad (1992) and Aravinda de Silva (1996).
#4 Leading wicket-taker of 2015 World Cup
The left-arm pacers Trent Boult and Mitchell Starc have both ended the tournament with 22 wickets each to top the wicket-taking charts. Starc, however, edges Boult when it comes to economy rate and bowling average. While Starc took a couple of wickets today, Boult was able to manage only one.
Given below is the list of top 6 leading wicket-takers in the 2015 World Cup:
| Player | Country | Matches | Wickets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trent Boult | New Zealand | 9 | 22 |
| Mitchell Starc | Australia | 8 | 22 |
| Umesh Yadav | India | 8 | 18 |
| Mohammed Shami | India | 7 | 17 |
| Morne Morkel | South Africa | 8 | 17 |
| Jerome Taylor | West Indies | 7 | 17 |
#5 Martin Guptill - Leading run-scorer
Martin Guptill didn’t have a great day with the bat today, but the 15 runs he scored were enough to topple Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara from the top spot in the list of leading run-scorers in the 2015 World Cup. Guptill had a slow start to the tournament before turning it all around in a remarkable fashion with a century against Bangladesh and a double against West Indies in back-to-back matches.
On the other hand, Sangakkara’s magnificent run in the World Cup – which included four consecutive centuries – was stopped by Sri Lanka’s elimination from the tournament in the quarter-final stages.
| Player | Country | Matches | Runs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Guptill | New Zealand | 9 | 547 |
| Kumar Sangakkara | Sri Lanka | 7 | 541 |
| AB de Villiers | South Africa | 8 | 482 |
| Brendan Taylor | Zimbabwe | 6 | 433 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | India | 8 | 412 |
#6 World Cups for fun
With this triumph in their home soil, Australia have won a total of 5 World Cups in ODI cricket so far – 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015. India and West Indies are at the second spot with 2 World Cups. While Pakistan and Sri Lanka have won the trophy 1 time each, England, New Zealand and South Africa are yet to open their account.
Australia, however, haven’t won a single T20 World Cup so far.
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