Australia's Revival at World Cup Ends With a Title

Australia completed its climb from the depths of world cricket to its heights on Sunday as it won its fifth World Cup, defeating New Zealand by seven wickets in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Less than two years ago, many of the same players departed the Champions Trophy, the last global tournament in the one-day international format, winless and in disarray. (Australia paint MCG green and gold)

"We've had an amazing journey the last couple of years," the all-rounder James Faulkner, who received the man of the match award, told reporters. (Faulkner emerges from the shadow of the two Mitchells)

Coached by Darren Lehmann, who was appointed shortly after the Champions Trophy debacle, and led by captain Michael Clarke, the team displayed the traditional Australian virtues of toughness, confidence and aggression. (ODI exit closest to fairytale ending: Clarke)

Australia's triumph was spearheaded by effective bowling. The final lasted 499 deliveries, but the likely winner was clear after only four. That was when New Zealand's captain and batting catalyst, Brendon McCullum, had his off stump removed by a delivery from Mitchell Starc, the Australians' left-arm paceman. (Australia second team to win World Cup on home soil)

"It was a little lucky," Starc, who was later named man of the tournament, told reporters. (Sachin Tendulkar cheered on by MCG crowd)

But luck had only so much to do with it.

Starc explained that he and Australia's bowling coach, Craig McDermott, had planned the sequence of deliveries that led to McCullum's demise.

McCullum had made a habit of starting New Zealand's innings with audacious stroke play. It worked brilliantly most of the time, but as former England captain Michael Vaughan said on BBC radio, the difference was that Starc was too good to be handled that way.

New Zealand lost its first three wickets for 39. Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott took the score to 150, but just as New Zealand was threatening a good score, Faulkner removed Taylor and Corey Anderson in the space of three deliveries, precipitating a late-order collapse to 183 all out.

Australia galloped to the target, reaching it with 101 balls to spare. The bulk of the runs came from Clarke, playing his last one-day international, with 74, and Steve Smith, whose 56 not out included the winning runs.

Smith, more than anybody, symbolizes the renaissance of this side. Two years ago, he neither batted nor bowled well enough to have a real effect, appreciated as much for his contribution to team chemistry as for anything he did on the field.

Now Smith is heir apparent to the captaincy and one of the finest batsmen in the world.

Clarke wore a black arm band in memory of his teammate Phillip Hughes, who was killed in a match in November.

"It's got 'PH' on it; I'll wear it every time I play for Australia," Clarke told reporters after receiving the winner's trophy. "It has 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."

Australia's five victories have come in the last eight tournaments. The teams with the next highest total of World Cup titles in history are India and West Indies, with two each.

New Zealand lost the final, its first, but is a winner as a vibrant co-host and a major on-field force.

"They've been the form side of world cricket the last six months," the Australia all-rounder Shane Watson told reporters. "Brendon McCullum has done an incredible job. They have match winners through their team. We're incredibly glad to have won."

New Zealand confirmed itself once again, as Australia did in rugby union and the Netherlands did in soccer, as the sport's pound-for-pound champion, maximizing limited resources with intelligence and innovation.

This was the World Cup when the aggressive batsmanship of the Twenty20 format moved up to the longer form of the game, making scores of 300 or more the norm rather than the exception. But New Zealand, an innovator at earlier World Cups, supplemented that evolution with McCullum's imaginatively aggressive captaincy in the field.

"We didn't lift the trophy but have no regrets with the brand of cricket we played, and we walk away with our heads held high," McCullum said after the final. "It's the greatest time of our lives, and that's how we tried to play the game, with a free spirit and heart. I still think we can be very proud of our achievements in this tournament."

Other countries also have fond memories.

South Africa at last won a knockout match and was eliminated only after the best match of the tournament, its semifinal against New Zealand. Bangladesh got to play a knockout match after deservedly eliminating England.

Ireland and Afghanistan showed that there was not only life but also quality competition beyond the 10 Test-playing nations, which seems to contradict the decision to reduce the 2019 tournament to 10 teams.

Ireland and Afghanistan contributed considerably more to this year's tournament than several of their higher-profile competitors. Cricket's rulers have backtracked before - this tournament was originally intended to have only 10 teams - and may do so again.

© 2015 New York Times News Service