World Cup 2015 Final, Highlights: Michael Clarke Leads Australia to Fifth World Cup Title
Michael Clarke played a captain's knock in his final ODI to take his side to a title win at the World Cup 2015. Catch all highlights here.
Michael Clarke (74), Steven Smith (56 not out) take Australia to an emphatic seven-wicket win over New Zealand to bag their fifth World Cup title. Catch all highlights here: ( SCORECARD | Photos | Videos)
(All times in IST)
04.43: Australia celebrate with the World Cup 2015 trophy.
World Cup Champions. #AUSvNZ https://t.co/lOJzVYDAPh
- Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) March 29, 2015
04.27: Michael Clarke: Over the moon, what a tournament, Brendon and NZ deserve a lot of credit, always a tough team to beat, whenever we play them in any sport - so well done to Baz and his team, especially personally, he had an amazing performance. Thanks to every Australian and cricket supporter out there who've been behind us. The team and support staff, the support I've had since coming back into the team, they deserve to stand there with the trophy. Said we were ready mentally and we managed to get it all together physically. [No23 shirt?] Might give it back to Warney... Haven't given it much though, time is right to walk away from one-day criclket, I'll still be playing Test cricket. [Black arm bands] It's got PH on it, I'll wear it every time I play for Australia. Been a really tough few months and everyone would say we played this World Cup with 16 players. Tonight is dedicated to our little brother. Hughesy used to party as well as any of them. We're really proud, it's a wonderful achievement, to win in our own backyard in front of family and friends.
04.22: Brendon McCullum: It's been one hell of a ride for us, right the way through, we played some outstanding cricket. We ran into an outstanding team in Australia, they continue to set the standard. Michael Clarke bows out on a high note, they deserved to win. Probably unfolded not as planned, but we got ourselves back in the game at 3 for 150. With 180, you still dare to dream could have ended up differently with a couple of things going our way. This is what you ask for as a cricketer, we've had the opportunity. We've forged memories and friendships that will last forever. Didn't lift the trophy but no regrets, the brand of cricket we've played and we walk away with our heads held high. It's the greatest time of our lives and that's how we tried to play the game, with a free spirit and heart. Still think we can be very proud of our achievements in this tournament.
04.10: James Faulkner: Pretty amazing feeling, in front of 90,000 at the MCG. We've had an amazing journey the last couple of years. The skipper tosses you the ball and it works out like that sometimes. I thought I might not be here today, so this is an amazing feeling.
04.09: Mitchell Starc:Amazing tournament, some outstanding performances but to cap it off. NZ have set the standard all tournament but we led it home. I've worked really hard for a number of months now, a few series ago we sat down and to see it come to fruition it's been phenomenal. Little lucky, it was a plan Craig and I had but to see it executed. Brendon's been fantastic all tournament. The fans have been fantastic, to win in front of this many people,there's nothing like it. Going to enjoy this one now.
04.06: Shane Watson on New Zealand: They've been the form side of world cricket the last six months, Brendon McCullum has done an incredible job, they have match-winners through their team. We're incredibly glad to have won.
04.00: James Faulkner named man-of-the-match in the final! Mitchell Starc (22 wickets) adjudged man-of-the-series.
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03.37: AUSTRALIA ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!
03.37: Michael Clarke's 74 and Steven Smith's unbeaten 56 takes Australia to a comfortable seven-wicket win over New Zealand to claim the World Cup 2015 title.
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03.27: Bowled him! Clarke doesn't stay on till the end. He has chopped a Matt Henry delivery onto his stumps. He walks off to a big round of applause. He acknowledges it with a raised bat as his team line-up at the boundary line with claps. What a man! Australia nine away from victory now.
03.23: Clarke is looking to finish this off in style here. He moves into 70s.
03.20: Australia move to 157/2 in 30 overs vs New Zealand. Need just 27 off 20 overs to win title.
03.07: FIFTY for Clarke! What a champion, this man! He walks away from ODIs with a half-century and a World Cup title win.
02.57: SIX! Clarke steps down to a flighted Vettori delivery and hits it over long off for a six. Australia 130/2 in 25 overs, need just 54 more to claim fifth World Cup title.
2.42: Australia are cruising through here. Bring up 100 in 20.5 overs in a modest chase. Need just 84 runs off 29.1 overs to win the World Cup.
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02.05: Michael Clarke walks out to fabulous reception from MCG fans. Can he sign off from ODIs with a half-century and a World Cup title win?
02.03: The Kiwi fans enjoyed that wicket.
The #NZ fans LOVED that Warner wicket from Henry! #AUSvNZ https://t.co/JVzGwqI8jB
- Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) March 29, 2015
02.02: OUT! David Warner's stay at the wicket is over. He pulls a Matt Henry delivery straight to Grant Elliott at deep square leg. Australia 63/2 (12.2 overs)
01:51: Warner at his best. Boult missed his length and Warner creams it through to the cover boundary. Australia 56/1 (10 overs)
01:48: 50-up for Australia. New Zealand need wickets and they need them now!
01.38: McCullum turns to his veteran spinner Daniel Vettori and Steven Smith straight away steps down the track for a single. Australia 40/1 (6.3 overs)
01.37: Steven Finch gets into the act now. The ball is moving around but the in-form Aussie shuffles across, as always, and pulls in front of square for a four. Australia 38/1 (6 overs)
01.27: Boult is swinging the ball away from Warner but strays outside the off-stump and the left-handed opener latches onto it, driving it handsomely through covers. Australia 15/1 (3.4 overs)
01.24: Too early to find comparisons but the West Indies lost their first wicket for four against India in the 1983 final. Australia have lost their opener for 2. The Kiwis surely have a reason to believe.
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01.17: Good start from New Zealand. Boult strikes in first over! He removes Aaron Finch for a duck. Boult was getting the ball to shape into the right-hander who played the ball onto his front pad. The ball lobbed up off the pad and Boult completed a simple catch. Game on? Australia 2/1 (1.4 overs)
01.15: STAT ALERT: In the 1983 World Cup, India defended 183 to win the title. That remains the lowest total defended in a World Cup final. Can the Kiwis pull of a miracle here?
01.10: The Aussie chase begins as Aaron Finch and David Warner walk out to the middle. A win will give them their fifth World Cup title.
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12.28: It's all over! New Zealand are all out for 183. Johnson removes Matt Henry and the Maxwell runs out Southee in a spectacular fashion to end the Kiwi innings. What a performance by Australia on the field, with Mitchell Johnson (3/30), James Faulkner (3/36) and Mitchell Starc (2/20) doing all the damage. Clear lack of experience showed in the Kiwi line-up as batsmen threw their wickets away under pressure. Australia are just 184 away from their fifth World Cup title while New Zealand bowlers need to produce something out of the ordinary to deny the hosts that.
12.22: Here's whom 1992 World Cup-winning skipper is supporting. They'll need a lot of it though, to pull off a win here.
Hoping NZ win for Martin Crowe. He was the most innovative & bold captain in the "92 WC. Sending him all my prayers as he fights his cancer
- Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) March 29, 2015
12.19: While the Aussies on-field were mouthing off expletives at Elliott after dismissing him, a former Aussie had words of praise for the gritty Kiwi batsman.
Excellent innings from Grant Elliott, unfortunately for the @BLACKCAPS it's been a solitary effort. #CWC15Final
- Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) March 29, 2015
12.12: Elliott is gone! He goes for 83. He is deceived by a slower one from Faulkner and goes for a big heave. Outside edge is taken by Haddin who seems to have given the batsman a send-off. New Zealand 171/8 (41.5 overs)
12.05: BOWLED HIM! What a spectacular delivery from Johnson! That was too good for Vettori. A full, inswinging yorker breaches Vettori's defence. He goes for 9. New Zealand 167/7 (41 overs)
12.01: Only 15 runs come in the batting powerplay, at the loss of three wickets. Australia have pulled things back excellently after letting the Kiwis rebuild. New Zealand 165/6 in 40 overs with Elliott standing tall on 78. How much more can he get today?
11.58: Close shave! Elliott survives a very close LBW appeal. Faulkner, bowling from round the stumps, struck the inside thigh of the batsman and went up straightaway. Dharmasena wasn't interested and even Clarke didn't seem keen on a review. Haddin, however, urged Clarke to go for it and he reluctantly signalled for it. Replays showed the ball just about clipping top of off-stump but it wasn't enough to overturn the original decision. Umpire's call stays. New Zealand 159/6 (39.1 overs)
11.45: The Kiwis are on a downfall here! Faulkner and Starc ruin New Zealand's careful resurrection. First Faulkner dismisses Ross Taylor and Corey Anderson in a span of three deliveries and then Starc sends Luke Ronchi back for a duck. New Zealand 151/6 in 36.2 overs.
11.24: Very crucial phase of the game begins for the Kiwis. Two overs away from the batting powerplay of five overs. No better time for Taylor and Elliott to shift gears after pulling the Kiwis out of early misery with an unbeaten 100-run stand. New Zealand 142/3 in 34 overs.
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11.03: FIFTY for Elliott! Gutsy stuff from the 36-year-old who has combined forces with Taylor to pull Kiwis out of trouble. Still a lot of work to do though. This is Elliott's 9th fifty, second on-the-trot. New Zealand 115/3 (28 overs)
10.55: 100 comes up for New Zealand. It has come in 26.2 overs. They've not had it easy in their first World Cup 2015 fixture away from home. Can Taylor, Elliott make this partnership count?
10.51: Srinivasan: Associates will have a meaningful chance to enter next World Cup. ICC's development programme has been key to their success.
10.45: ICC chief N. Srinivasan is in the stands. Talking to Harsha Bhogle, he says, "A lot of people from South Asia have come to Australia and New Zealand for the World Cup and that is significant. This has been a very successful World Cup."
10.42: Jimmy Neesham, the Kiwi all-rounder, takes a timely dig.
#MCGsobig top edges only carry into the 10th row.
- Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) March 29, 2015
10.40: SIX! A top-edge off Elliot's bat sails over the fine leg fence. Starc won't be too happy with that. New Zealand 83/3 (22.4 overs)
10.31: Excellent review! Elliott tries to sweep Maxwell and is struck on the front pad. The Aussie spinner felt that was struck in line and let out a big shout. Dharmasena, the umpire, thought long and hard and raised his finger. Elliott reviewed straight away and replays showed the ball missing the leg stump by a quite a distance. New Zealand 66/3 (20 overs)
10.22: Kiwis in desperate need of a partnership here. Everytime they look like they can rebuild, Australia peg them back with wickets. The first-timers have a herculean task to make a match of this. New Zealand 54/3 (17 overs)
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09.59: Oh dear! The Kiwis are crumbling at a swift pace here. After a good start, Williamson has been sent packing. He plays a tentative forward push and is easily caught and bowled by Johnson. This is ruthless from the Aussies, displaying their experience. New Zealand 39/3 (12.2 overs)
I always did feel that New Zealand could struggle in unfamiliar conditions at the huge MCG. If only we had played better at Sydney. #AUSvNZ
- Vikram Chandra (@vikramchandra) March 29, 2015
09.53: BOWLED HIM! Martin Guptill has been bowled by Glenn Maxwell! Guptill had done all the hardwork to weather the early storm and reach the stage where Clarke introduced his part-timer fifth bowler in Maxwell and then threw it away in just two balls. Guptill was cramped at the crease and attempted to play a short of length delivery that spun into him and missed it. The ball clattered the top of off stump and the Aussies rejoiced. New Zealand 33/2 (11.2 overs)
09.49: Starc, the best bowler of the tournament, has been bang on target so far. As many as 20 dots in just four overs from him.
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09.37: Kane Williamson and Martin Guptill are starting to rebuild cautiously for Kiwis. Reach 31/1 in 10 overs.
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09.13: This is the worst possible start the Kiwis could've imagined. They need their big-match player Ross Taylor to step up. Here's what his daughter sent him on the eve of the game.
Thanks for all the message of support. Much appreciated. Just got this from my daughter pic.twitter.com/jwTb0Irwd3
- Ross Taylor (@RossLTaylor) March 29, 2015
09.07: BOWLED HIM! Starc bowls an absolute snorter-of-a-delivery to breach McCullum's bat-pad gap and castle his stumps. McCullum walks back for a big, big zero. New Zealand 1/1 (0.5 overs)
09.04: Close! What a ball! Starc beats McCullum's attempted drive.The next delivery he comes down the track and is beaten. This is going to be an interesting contest.
09.03: First runs of the World Cup 2015 final! Guptill guides the ball past backward point and takes a single. McCullum is now on strike.
09.02: Mitchell Starc kick-starts the proceedings against Martin Guptill.
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08.45: Here's the Australian line-up for today.
#AUS XI: Finch, Warner, Smith, Clarke, Maxwell, Watson, Faulkner, Haddin, Johnson, Starc, Hazlewood #cwc15 #AUSvNZ pic.twitter.com/tEO4KYRVFo
- cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) March 29, 2015
08.35: Here's a stat from the MCG. Are we set to witness another Brendon McCullum blitz?
NZ wins toss and bats. All four teams who have batted first at the MCG at this tournament have won.
- Peter Della Penna (@PeterDellaPenna) March 29, 2015
08.27: New Zealand win toss, opt to bat vs Australia. Both teams unchanged from their semifinal wins.
The BLACKCAPS have won the toss and will bat first in the CWC Final! #nzvaus #final ^CE https://t.co/V782UauyMU
- BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) March 29, 2015
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 08.19: A lot of eyes on Daniel Vettori today. The 36-year-old Veteran, in his first World Cup final of his life, could be the difference between the two sides.
08.05: Good morning!The World Cup 2015 final is under an hour away! The Kiwis are out, playing a bit of football and practicing. It's a big, big day for them. Their first-ever World Cup final.
#NZ are in the middle of the @MCG and look ready for business in the World Cup final! http://t.co/tWPPrgPrpJ #AUSvNZ https://t.co/2xmxWl2nKU
- Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) March 29, 2015
The Blackcaps are warming up on the MCG, not long until the toss! #cwc15 #AUSvNZ https://t.co/FkneqlO2mg
- Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) March 29, 2015
Will it be Australia's fifth World Cup triumph or will New Zealand create history. The much awaited and much hyped final at the iconic MCG promises to be a cracker and in the words of several former cricketers, the match could be a cracker. The Black Caps have played some exciting cricket over the last six weeks while the Aussies have slowly picked up momentum. Now, they look mighty formidable.
This would also be an emotional day for Michael Clarke, who has announced his plans to retire from one-day internationals after today. Will his team deliver a nice farewell gift for him? Or will Brendon McCullum's charged up men rule the day?
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Head-to-Head - Played: 126; Australia have won 85 while New Zealand have won 35. Six have produced no results.
In World Cups - Australia have won six of nine matches while the Kiwis have won three matches, including the last time they met in Auckland earlier in this tournament.
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