Photo: ICC
From Shobhit Nanda
Melbourne 29 March (MCG): Forty nine matches in 45 days resulted in the Australian team winning their fifth world cup in front of over 91,000 people at the MCG. The tournament felt long and drawn out during the group stages but the format meant the top teams in world cricket were almost guaranteed to make it to the knockout stages. The tournament did come alive as Bangladesh knocked England out of the tournament to take a spot in the Quarter Final and West Indies kept their flame alight at the expense of flamboyant Ireland side. The Quarter Finals were predictable with the better teams SA, Aus, NZ and India booking a place in the Semis. But it was the tournament favourites Australia and NZ that booked a ticket in the final.
Australia
Australia along with their trans-Tasman neighbours were one of the favourites to win the tournament. Having been knocked out by India in the 2011 world cup by host India, they remained unbeaten in the lead up to the world cup, handsomely beating India & England on the home turf. Their biggest test was always going to be the clash against NZ in NZ in the group stages and what a low scoring gem that turned out to be with the black caps winning by just one wicket. There was expectation if Australia make the final at the MCG, their fifth World Cup title would be in the kitty and that’s exactly what happened.
New Zealand
NZ were looking for their first world cup victory after being knocked out in 6 semi finals in previous editions and what better opportunity than playing in your own back yard. With India winning as host for the first time in 2011, the stigma that the host teams cannot win due to the pressure was gone. NZ played all their games in the smaller NZ ground and won them all thanks in part to the explosive batting of their captain, Brendan McCullam. They got into the final after beating a strong South African unit in thrilling circumstances. But the Aussie bowling attack was too good for them in the final in the MCG.
South Africa
The South African team has always been a contender to win the big one since their re-entry into the cricket family in 1992. However, they have always found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Their world cup semi final against NZ was no different after dropping crucial catches in the dying overs. Earlier in the tournament, they were defeated by India & Pakistan in group stages but comprehensively defeated Sri Lanka to reach the semi final. Another long four years wait till they get another chance.
India
The Indian team went into world cup with the worst possible form but the best possible preparation as they got time to familiarise themselves with Australian pitches in the test and tri-series prior. Any talk of burn out & low morale due to not winning a single game over their 3 months down under was put to the rest after a confidence boosting win against Pakistan in the opening game at Adelaide. They then defeated South Africa at the MCG and recovered in a run chase against Zimbabwe to reach the quarter final stage unbeaten. After defeating the Bangladeshi side in the quarters, India met with Australia where their run ended. Some say they weren’t tested during the tournament but the real reason they lost was that their bowlers gave away too many runs after Australia choose to bat first. Besides a hundred against Pakistan, their super star batsman, Virat Kholi failed to make any significant contribution to the tournament and got out early in the crunch game against the Aussies.
Bangladesh
The fearless Tigers reached the quarter final stage by defeating England and knocking them out of the tournament. They defeated the other associate teams in their pool and got a crucial 1 point from the rained out game against Australia at the Gabba. Having knocked out India in the 2007 world cup, they wanted to create another upset but came short against a strong Indian team in the Quarter final.
West Indies
The West Indian team came off disastrous tours of India and South Africa. There was a real chance that one of the associate team could knock them out of the tournament. Given they had an untested captain in the young, Jason Holder, a lot depended on their star batsman, Chris Gayle to come good. He had his moment when playing against Pakistan team in the group stage and they did enough to progress to the Quarter final against New Zealand where their run ended.
Sri Lanka
The Lankans came to the world cup with a strong team and had the seniors Sangakkara and Jayewardene on the cusp of retiring. It was always going to be a tall order for them to get past South African in the Quarter final and a lot of fans were disappointed by the way their greats exited the big stage with an underwhelming performance in that game.
Pakistan
Pakistan had an outside chance of making an impact and they needed the fight of the 1992 world cup victory down under to get them going. They recovered from an early group stage loss against India and West Indies to win against South Africa and gave Australians a good fight in the quarter final. Their quicks made a memorable impact in an otherwise poor batting game which led to the loss.
England
The English side had a forgetful world cup campaign. The team looked fractured with the sacking of their captain, Jonathan Cook and the non-inclusion of Kevin Peterson in the squad. They got a humiliating beating at the hands on Bangladesh which sent them packing at the end of the group stages.
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe only managed to win one game against UAE and had an overall flat tournament. Captain of Zimbabwe, Brendon Taylor, was their standout player but he played out his last game for Zimbabwe in this tournament as he will move to UK to play county cricket.
Afghanistan, UAE, Ireland, Scotland
The games between the associate teams provided some good entertainment and it was good to see that cricket is thriving in countries such as Afghanistan. There is talk of limiting future world cups to the top 10 teams and there may be some merit in doing is as it will reduce the number of meaningless games. At the same time, the world cup is the chance for this team to play against the big team. A number of commentators have batted in favour of keeping them in the world cup fold to give them exposure on the big stage. In between world cups, his best way to improve them would be for the big teams to send their A team to compete against them.
