Published: Mar 31, 2015, 11:48 AM (IST)
Edited: Mar 31, 2015, 07:58 PM (IST)
After playing compelling cricket throughout ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and coming to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) without a blot on their copybook, New Zealand meandered and lost their way against a team that has acquired an uncanny knack for decimating opposition in the World Cup finals. The dream was shattered even before the Kiwis could find their bearings in their maiden final. Australia romped home to their fifth title, much to the chagrin of the rest of the world which possibly finds the sight of an Australian captain holding the World Cup trophy aloft nauseating. Ankur Dhawan examines Australia’s penchant for rendering the rival listless with an early knockout punch; and the defining moment of an anticlimactic final. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Top 10 most memorable moments
It was as auspicious a beginning as New Zealand could have pined for. After all, they had played all their matches at home, and at alien MCG this was going to be a distinct disadvantage. The stroke of luck with the toss of the coin ought to have negated that disadvantage to a small extent. No team had successfully chased a total at the MCG during the current World Cup. Brendon McCullum won what should have been a decisive toss. In anticipation, the rest of the world lustily cheered New Zealand. But the cheers of Kiwi supporters were quickly drowned in the screams for a repeat performance by the Australian contingent, as the memories of the ICC Cricket World Cup 1999, 2003, and 2007 all came rushing back like a gust of wind. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: The CricketCountry XI
The limited overs format offers little scope for recovery, as against Test cricket. Teams have been bowled out for scores as feeble as 94 and gone on to win Test matches. One Day Internationals (ODIs) seldom pan out in a similar fashion and can be quite unforgiving of early botch-ups. The fate of an ODI can often hinge on the outcome of the first hour of play, and the results in the last five world cup finals give credence to the theory. There has been one constant in four of these finals: Australia’s incorrigible habit of winning World Cup finals before the opposition can find its moorings. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Top 10 innings
The Pakistan top order was dented early in 1999, the Indians chased leather from ball one in 2003, the 2007 final against Sri Lanka mirrored its predecessor, while Zaheer Khan bowled three successive maidens against Sri Lanka in 2011, in stark contrast to his diffident self, eight years ago against Australia. In none of the aforesaid events did Pakistan, India or Sri Lanka (twice) stage a recovery of note. World Cup finals are won early; Australia’s latest subjugation of New Zealand reaffirms the fact unequivocally. Mitchell Starc jolted the kiwis by felling Brendon McCullum for a three-ball duck. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Top 10 spells
Much like the final of 2003, when Zaheer’s first over signalled the beginning of a painful rout, Starc’s three deliveries to McCullum defined in a nutshell, all else that followed. The fast in-swinger that sent McCullum’s off stump cartwheeling also changed the way the Kiwis approached the game from that pivotal moment. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Top 5 catches
New Zealand had embodied a perfervid spirit through ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. There was a pattern to New Zealand’s gung-ho style of play with ball and bat. McCullum’s intrepid approach with the bat cascades into his captaincy as well, an anomaly for attacking batsmen who are often falsely credited of being instinctively aggressive personalities on the field. Cricket World Cup finals XI: Players who were outstanding on the day of finals
McCullum’s audacious batsmanship and captaincy consistently set the tone for New Zealand in all previous matches. McCullum invariably teed off at the outset to regularly allow the New Zealand middle order breathing space to construct the innings without having to glance at the scoreboard. In fact the Kiwis were scoring at more than seven and a half runs an over on an average in the powerplay overs right through the tournament. Their average powerplay score till the semi-final was 77 for two. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Moments that occurred for first time in a World Cup
That New Zealand huffed and puffed to 31 for one in the first 10 overs of the World Cup final points to the disintegration of their well laid-out plans upon the premature departure of their captain. McCullum had a decision to make when he walked out to bat. Whether he should have respected the sense of occasion and opted for a more measured approach with the bat, or whether a more conservative approach would have worked any better against a rampaging Mitchell Starc — who was at his pinnacle — remains imponderable. In any case, Australia’s puissant power to get teams playing differently in big finals against them wins them half the battle. Oppositions tend to deviate from their game plan far too soon and far too easily. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: The Associate XI
The idea of impending failure may not have occurred to McCullum when he stepped out to bat or faced the first dot ball. In fact, it is entirely possible that it was only after his off stump was uprooted did he pause and ponder. Top 10 batsmen in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
Five slips, gullies, a short leg and no third man; a predatory field setting had become synonymous with the Kiwis. In an era when cricket is being sold as a game of sixes and fours, McCullum made bowling and fielding just as attractive. But there was a moment during Australia’s run chase in the final when David Warner smashed a couple of airborne drives through the cover region. Usually, McCullum would have encouraged Warner’s daredevilry, but something was amiss as he moved Daniel Vettori from second slip to cover. Murphy’s Law seemed to be in effect, as the next ball was edged to the vacant second slip and into the boundary. The match was still alive at the time: Warner’s wicket was the equivalent of McCullum’s, it may have had a similar effect on the Australian batsmen to follow, as McCullum’s had on his team. Top 10 bowlers in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
The truism goes: ODIs cannot be won in the first 15 overs of the match, but can surely be lost. Australia have emphatically proved in four World Cup finals since 1999 that the former is a realistic possibility as well. Although, it is also true that the latter has to occur simultaneously, as it serendipitously did for Australia at the MCG. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Complete Coverage
(Ankur Dhawan, heavily influenced by dystopian novels, he naturally has about 59 conspiracy theories for every moment in the game of cricket. On finding a direct link between his head and the tip of his fingers, he also writes about it.)
