Mumbai : ICC world cup travelled to Down Under once again when Australia and New Zealand got the chance of hosting it once more in 2015. The rules and regulations were the same as that of 2011 edition. With 14 teams participating who were split into 2 pools with the top 4 in each pool moving into the last 8 i.e. the quarter final knock out round.
The two hostsNew Zealand & Australia along with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, England, Afghanistan and Scotland were placed in Pool A which turned out to be a pool of death. Where as Pakistan, India, South Africa, West Indies, Ireland, Zimbabwe and United Arab Emirates (UAE) were placed in Pool B
For the first time in the world cup's history, 2 opening ceremonies were held. One in Australia and the other in New Zealand.
New Zealand were on the roll in this world cup. Apart from a close win in a low scoring match against their Trans Tasman rivals Australia (Australia were bowled out for 151 after electing to bat, Brad Haddin 43(41) could only lead any fightback. Trent Boult was the pick up amonst the Kiwi bowlers finishing with 5/27. Chasing 152 , Kiwis started on a positive note with skipper Brendan McCullum slamming a 50 of just 24 deliveries after that they suffered a massive middle and lower middle order collapse before cruising home. Mitchell Starc with 6/28 did the bulk of the damage), they won every matches convincingly by playing as an unit with skipper McCullum leading the way by his whirlwind knocks.
Read :"God's" dream came true
Kumara Sangakkara of Sri Lanka scripted history by becoming the only batsman to hit 4 consecutive tons. His tons came against Bangladesh, England, Australia and Scotland in the group league matches.
A great star we found in Kumara Sangakkara.
Australia, on the other hand, apart from that loss against the Kiwis, won their matches convincingly with their match against Bangladesh being washed out.
The upset came at Adelaide oval where England faced Bangladesh. It was a do or die match for England as they suffered huge losses against Australia, Sri Lanka and New Zealand. England just managed to win against Scotland and Afghanistan. Put into bat Bangladesh put up 7/275, courtesy, a 141 runs 5th wicket partnership between Mahmudullah 103(138) and Mushfiqur Rahim 89(77) after slumping to 4/99. Chasing 276, England started at a slow pace and then started losing wickets at regular intervals. apart from Jos Buttler 65(52) and Chris Woakes 42(40) none of the batsmen made any effort and the entire team collapsed at 260 leaving a historic 15 runs win for Bangladesh. The result? England flied home early while Bangladesh, qualified for the last 8.
Player of the Grand Finale --- James Faulkner India, on the other hand, played like defending champions. With Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mohd Shami and R. Ashwin in the bowling line up and Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane in the batting order, they defeated their opponents comfortably be it Pakistan, the Proteas, the Caribbeans, Zimbabwe or any other team. For the 6th consecutive matches in the world cup, India managed to outclass Pakistan. Virat Kohli becoming the only Indian so far to score a world cup ton against the arch-rivals.India yet to taste a defeat in the hands of Pakistan in a 50 over ODI world cup game.
Pakistan, after being walloped by India and the West Indies, pipped South Africans to reach the last 8.
In the match between West Indies vs Zimbabwe, history was created when Chris Gayle became the first batter to score a 200+ score in a world cup match. Also a 372 runs partnership with Marlon Samuels is the record partnership in One Dayers that exist still today.
The quarter final line up were as follows : Bangladesh vs India , New Zealand vs West Indies , South Africa vs Sri Lanka and Pakistan vs Australia
In the quarter final matches, Rohit Sharma's blazing ton had made India's task easy against Bangladesh,
Another record created in the match between Kiwis and the Caribbeans. Martin Guptill's knock of 237*(163) eclipsed Chris Gayle's record as the highest individual world cup score. With Guptill;s knock, Kiwis put up 6/393 which proved to be a mammoth one for the Windies to chase
Expectations were high from Kumar Sangakkara, after his 4 consecutive tons, to deliver something special against South Africans. Also, it was a match for the Proteas to shed their "chockers" tag. Sanga disappointed by scoring only 45(96) and a pathetic display by Lankan batters saw them collapsing at 133 which was nothing to the Proteas, who chased 134 by losing just Hashim Amla's wicket. A fine hat-trick by J. P. Duminy has led to Lankan collapse.
Mitchell Starc --- Player of icc world cup 2015 The match between Pakistan and Australia did provide some climax at Adelaide Oval. Electing to bat, Pakistan were bundled out for 213. Josh Hazlewood (4/35) were the pick among the Aussie bowlers. Haris Sohail 41(57) was the top scorer for Pakistan. Chasing 214, Aussies lost Aaron Finch early, the score became 3/68. It could have been 4/68 had Rahat Ali not dropped a sitter of Shane Watson and the match could have swung either way. Pakistan's sloppy fielding continued and Wahab Riaz dropped in whst it would have been an excellent catch to provide a LIFER to Glenn Maxwell.
Thus, the semi final line up were like this : Australia vs India and New Zealand vs South Africa
The Auckland semi finals between Kiwis & Proteas proved to be a cliff-hanger. Batting first, South Africa piled up 5/281 in 43 overs in a rain interrupted match. Faf Du Plessis 82(107), skipper A. B. DeVilliers 65*(45) and David Miller 49(18) helped the Proteas to pile up that total . Chasing 298, according to the Duckworth Lewis rule , skipper Brendan McCullum 59(26) led the Kiwi challenge. Although they lost couple of wickets, Grant Elliot 84*(73) and Corey Anderson 58(57) ensured a remarkable Kiwi victory
Off to Sydney for the Australia vs India semi finals. Batting first, Australia amazed 7/328 . Thanks to a fine 81(116) by Aaron Finch and 105(93) by Steve Smith who loves Indian bowling and a late blister of 27*(9) by Mitchell Johnson, the hosts managed to reach that mammoth total. Chasing 329, Indians began positively with the openers Shikhar Dhawan 45(41) and Rohit Sharma 34(48) putting on 78 for the opening wicket. At a time when it was appearing that India would be able to chase down the total, mishap stuck in that very moment Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed and a loud cheers marked the arrival of Virat Kohli at the 22 yeards. But Kohli miserably failed to live upto his expectations and departed after scoring a single. The media and the entire Indian fans were of the opinion that the presence of actress Anushka Sharma (Kohli's fiancee) might have distracted Kohli. After Kohli's dismissal, it was a tame surrender by the Indian batters. Apart from Ajinkya Rahane 44(68) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni 65(65) no one was able to put up any resistance and the team was dismissed for 233.
Thus it was Australia vs New Zealand in the championship match at Melbourne. It was the first Grand Finale for the Kiwis and for the first time, they were to play 'away' from their home. With home advantage as an extra support, Kiwis proved no match for the Aussies. Electing to bat, Kiwis lost their in-form skipper Brendan McCullum 0(3) early. Apart from Grant Elliot 83(82) and Ross Taylor 40(72) none could face the wrath of Aussie bowlers and the entire team collapsed at 183. Atremendous amount of sledging by the Aussies effected the concentration of New Zealand batters.India defended 183 and became world beaters in 1983. Can New Zealand emulate that feat? It appeared so, after Finch dismissed for a duck. But knocks by David Warner 45(46), Steve Smith 56(71) and skipper Michael Clarke 74(72) dented any hopes the Kiwis had. Australia are world champions for a record 5th time.
To whom a World Cup is dedicated Just before the commencement of this event, Phil Hughes, former Australian cricketer , died by a Sean Abbot bouncer in a Sheffield Shield match. That incident changed the mindset of the entire Australian team particularly skipper Michael Clarke to whom the late cricketer was close to. Aussies played the entire tournament keeping Hughes in mind and dedicated their success to Late Phil Hughes.
Highest individual run getter :Martin Guptill of New Zealand with 547 runs
Highest individual wicket taker :Mitchell Starc of Australia & Trent Boult of New Zealand with 22 wickets apiece.
Highest team total :4/411 by South Africa vs Ireland
Lowest team total :102 by United Arab Emirates vs India
Match of the tournament :Australia vs New Zealand at Eden Park, Auckland in the Group Stages
Dramatis Personae :
- Afghanistan : Mohammad Nabi (c), Javed Ahmadi, Aftab Alam, Mirwais Ashraf, Usman Ghani, Hamid Hassan, Nasir Jamal, Nawroz Mangal, Gulbadin Naib, Shafiqullah Shafiq (wk), Samiullah Shenwari, Asghar Afghan, Dawlat Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Shapoor Zadran and Afsar Zazai (wk)
- Australia : Michael Clarke (c), George Bailey (vc), Pat Cummins, Xavier Doherty, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Brad Haddin (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner and Shane Watson
- Bangladesh : Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Shakib Al Hasan (vc), Taskin Ahmed, Anamul Haque (wk), Mominul Haque, Al Amin Hossain, Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Tamim Iqbal, Shafiul Islam, Taijul Islam, Imrul Kayes, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar and Arafat Sunny
- England : Eoin Morgan (c) , Jos Buttler (vc & wk), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad , Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Joe Root, James Taylor, James Tredwell and Chris Woakes
- New Zealand : Brendon McCullum (c), Kane Williamson (vc), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (wk), Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Adam Milne, Luke Ronchi (wk), Tim Southee, Ross Taylor and Daniel Vettori
- Scotland : Preston Mommsen (c), Kyle Coetzer (vc), Richie Berrington, Freddie Coleman, Matthew Cross (wk), Josh Davey, Alasdair Evans, Hamish Gardiner, Majid Haq, Michael Leask, Matt Machan, Calum MacLeod, Safyaan Sharif, Robert Taylor and Iain Wardlaw
- Sri Lanka : Angelo Mathews (c), Lahiru Thirimanne (vc), Dushmantha Chameera, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Rangana Herath, Mahela Jayawardene, Dimuth Karunaratne, Tharindu Kaushal, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Jeevan Mendis, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Dhammika Prasad, Seekkuge Prasanna, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Sachithra Senanayake and Upul Tharanga
- India : Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c & wk), Virat Kohli (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Stuart Binny, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Akshar Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu (wk), Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Rohit Sharma and Umesh Yadav
- Republic of Ireland : William Porterfield (c), Andrew Balbirnie, Peter Chase, Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Andrew McBrine, John Mooney, Tim Murtagh, Kevin O'Brien, Niall O'Brien (wk), Max Sorensen, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson (wk) and Craig Young
- Pakistan : Misbah-ul-Haq Niazi (c), Shahid Afridi (vc), Ehsan Adil, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Umar Akmal (wk), Rahat Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Irfan, Nasir Jamshed, Junaid Khan, Sohail Khan, Younis Khan, Sohaib Maqsood, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Ahmed Shehzad and Haris Sohail
- South Africa : AB de Villiers (c & wk), Hashim Amla (vc), Kyle Abbott, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wk), Faf du Plessis , JP Duminy, David Miller, Morné Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Vernon Philander, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn and Imran Tahir
- United Arab Emirates : Mohammad Tauqir (c), Khurram Khan (vc), Fahad Al Hashmi, Amjad Ali (wk), Shaiman Anwar, Nasir Aziz, Andri Berenger, Krishna Chandran, Manjula Guruge, Saqlain Haider (wk), Amjad Javed, Rohan Mustafa, Mohammad Naveed, Swapnil Patil (wk) and Kamran Shahzad
- West Indies : Jason Holder (c), Marlon Samuels (VC), Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Johnson Charles, Sheldon Cottrell, Chris Gayle, Nikita Miller, Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith and Jerome Taylor
- Zimbabwe : Elton Chigumbura (c), Brendan Taylor (wk), Regis Chakabva (wk), Tendai Chatara, Chamu Chibhabha, Craig Ervine, Tafadzwa Kamungozi, Hamilton Masakadza, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Solomon Mire, Tawanda Mupariwa, Tinashe Panyangara, Sikandar Raza, Prosper Utseya and Sean Williams
