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Australia won a fifth World Cup at the MCG last night by seven wickets over the Black Caps as Mitchell Starc captured the coveted player of the tournament award.
Starc bowled Brendon McCullum for a third-ball duck. Dismissing the Black Caps skipper and most dangerous batsman in the first over of the game was a dream start for the Australians.
» Full 2015 Cricket World Cup final scorecard
» Cricket World Cup final live blog
» VIDEO: McCullum’s crucial dismissal
» GLENN MITCHELL: From tragedy to triumph for Michael Clarke
The record 93,013 crowd erupted, their roar would have been heard way up the hill in the Melbourne CBD.
Another left-arm Australian paceman James Faulkner won the man-of-the-match award with a two-wicket burst in three deliveries when the Kiwis were starting to recover.
He had Ross Taylor caught behind for 40, ending a 111-fourth wicket stand with Grant Elliott, before bowling the dangerous Corey Anderson for a second-ball duck.
Elliott went on to top score with 83, with the Black Caps all out for 183 in 45 overs, which was never going to be enough on a belter of a track, and a fast outfield.
Even though Aaron Finch went for a first over duck, David Warner (45), Steve Smith (56*), and retiring skipper Michael Clarke’s 74 saw the Australians home with 101 deliveries up their sleeve.
For Smith, Australia’s best batsman in the tournament and the ODI captain-in-waiting, it was his fifth successive 50-plus – 95 against Afghanistan, 72 (Sri Lanka), 65 against Pakistan in the quarters, 105 against India in the semis, and the unbeaten 56 last night.
Try 393 runs at 98.25 – what a tournament.
So after 49 games over six weeks, the honour board is as follows.
Most runs
Martin Guptill (NZ) – 547 at 68.37.
Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) – 541 at 108.20.
AB de Villiers (South Africa) – 482 at 96.40.
Brendan Taylor (Zimbabwe) – 433 at 72.16.
Shikhar Dhawan (India) – 412 at 51.50.
Steve Smith (Australia) – 402 at 67.
There were a record 35 centuries in the tournament, burying the eight tons scored in the inaugural World Cup in 1975.
Guptill’s unbeaten 237, facing the first and last ball of the Kiwis game against the West Indies, was a World Cup record, eclipsing Chris Gayle’s 215 against Zimbabwe.
And the 37-year-old Sangakkara set a world ODI record with four successive centuries – 105* against Bangladesh, 117* against England, 104 against Australia, and 124 against South Africa.
Most wickets
Mitchell Starc (Australia) – 22 wickets at 10.18.
Trent Boult (NZ) – 22 at 16.86.
Umesh Yadav (India) – 18 at 17.83.
Mohammed Shami (India) -17 at 17.29.
Morne Morkel (South Africa) – 17 at 17.58.
Jerome Taylor (West Indies) – 17 at 19.29.
Tim Southee (NZ) recorded the best figures of the tournament with 7-33 against England, with Starc’s 6-28 against the Kiwis in the scheduled rounds the next best.
Most dismissals
Brad Haddin (Australia) – 16.
MS Dhoni (India) – 15.
Denesh Ramden (West Indies) – 13.
Luke Ronchi (NZ) – 13.
Matthew Cross (Scotland) – 10.
Quinton de Kock (South Africa) – 10.
At least four but maybe five players retired from ODIs after their completing their World Cup campaigns.
Sri Lankans Kumar Sangakkara (404 games) and Mahela Jayawardene (448), Zimbabwean Brendan Taylor (167), Australian Michael Clarke (245) – and probably Kiwi Daniel Vettori (295).
But the quote of the night belongs to Brad Haddin during a post-final interview.
“We are going to have a beer with everyone in the crowd (93,013), should be a big night”.
Amen to that.