MICHAEL Clarke and Australia would have no complaints, but I did say the other day that part of me feared the final could end up being lop-sided. There are, however, a number of reasons why Australia were so dominant at the MCG on Sunday. First and foremost, they are an absolute quality team. And much as the ODI game appears tailored for batsmen, Australia have shown how formidable a side you can be if you possess a world class bowling attack, with no real weak link to speak of.

Then, there was also the matter of New Zealand, who were contesting their first World Cup final, having to adjust to the occasion as well as the conditions. Having played every match in New Zealand, to suddenly come to Australia and adapt for the most important game of your life was a big ask of the players. And bear in mind that their semi-final win over South Africa went right down to the wire, so that too would have taken some toll on the Kiwis.

Ultimately, as I had mentioned earlier, the key was always going to be which side handled the opposition’s bowling better. In this regard, the Aussies made a damning statement in that brilliant first over by Mitchell Starc which yielded the prized wicket of the New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum. I did feel sorry for a man who, for everything he had done in this tournament, deserved a lot better than a duck besides his name in a World Cup final. You could argue that he could have looked to get his eye in a bit, but then he simply stuck by the way he’s always played his cricket. Unfortunately for him, this was one occasion it didn’t come off.

The second key moment was delivered by James Faulkner when he derailed the Kiwi fightback by Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott by dismissing Taylor and Corey Anderson within three balls. Situations like that bring out the ruthlessness of this Australian attack as they quickly snuffed out any hopes of a second revival for the Kiwis. Left to chase a modest score, skipper Michael Clarke, wasn’t going to miss out in his final ODI outing and struck a fluent half-century to take his side to the cusp of glory.

Looking ahead, with Clarke gone and the likely prospect of Mitchell Johnson, Shane Watson and Brad Haddin also not being around in four years time, there are still a good seven to eight players from this current lot who will form the core of Australia’s ODI team come 2019. So the newly crowned champions do appear to be well poised for continued success in the 50 over game.

As we bid World Cup 2015 goodbye, it’s safe to say that batsmen well and truly ruled the roost when you look at some of the stats. But I hope people will also remember the great bowling spells that lit up the tournament, especially from the left-armers. Indeed it was great to see one of them crowned ‘player of the tournament’. For his sheer quality and consistency, Mitchell Starc deserved it.

I was also impressed with the tremendous support the tournament received from fans both in Australia and New Zealand. Along with those who flew in from various corners of the world, it surely added to the event’s success. I would like to end by complimenting the Cricket World Cup committee for doing a stellar job, though I do hope they may yet reconsider their decision to limit the next tournament to just 10 teams. We can all agree that teams like Ireland and Afghanistan deserve that opportunity for what they treated us to in this World Cup.

By Special Arrangement for Dawn

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2015

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