Hyderabad: The world's largest stadium - Narendra Modi Stadium is ready for the final match of the 13th edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup. The summit clash will be played in Ahmedabad when hosts India take on five-time champions Australia.
The million-dollar question is which batter will make this match memorable by scoring a century? Only six batters have managed to do this in the total of 12 World Cup finals so far and five of these batters played a key role in making their team the world champion.
So far, only two captains have scored a century in a World Cup final. The special thing is that these six centuries have come in different World Cups and these centuries have been scored by players of only three teams.
- World Cup 1975: Clive Lloyd 102 vs Australia
The ODI Cricket World Cup started in 1975. The first World Cup final was played between West Indies and Australi at Lords. West Indies scored 291 runs by losing 8 wickets in the stipulated 60 overs while batting first. Captain Clive Lloyd played a brilliant innings of 102 runs off 85 balls. His knock was laced with 12 fours and 2 sixes. At one stage, the West Indies were 3 wickets short of 50 runs but then Clive Lloyd took the lead and added 149 runs for the fourth wicket with Rohan Kanhai. Chasing a target of 292 runs, Australia was bowled out for 274 runs and West Indies won the first World Cup. Clive Lloyd was adjudged player of the match in the final.
- World Cup 1979: Viv Richards 138 not out vs England
The final of the second World Cup was played between West Indies and England at Lord's. In the final match played on June 23, 1979, England won the toss and elected to field. Sir Viv Richards proved this decision of the English team completely wrong and played a blistering unbeaten knock of 138 runs. Richards hammered 11 fours and three sixes in 157 balls. West Indies scored 286/9. In reply, England was all out for 194 runs. West Indies won the title of world champion for the second consecutive time after trouncing England by 92 runs. Sir Viv Richards was adjudged player of the match for his scintillating ton.
- World Cup 1996: Aravinda de Silva 107 not out vs Australia
The final of the sixth Cricket World Cup was played between Australia and Sri Lanka at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field and Australia scored 241/7 in the allotted 50 overs. For Sri Lanka, Arvinda de Silva played a match-winning innings of 107 runs not out in 124 balls. He hammered 13 fours and it was due to his knock that Sri Lanka was crowned as the world champion for the first time. Sri Lanka scored 245/3 in 46.2 overs and trounced Australia by seven wickets. De Silva was adjudged player of the match for this match-winning effort.
- World Cup 2003: Ricky Ponting 140 not out vs India
After 20 years in the 2003 World Cup, India made it to the World Cup final, but Australia skipper Ricky Ponting came in their way of becoming the world champion. In the summit clash played in Johannesburg, South Africa on March 23, 2003, India skipper Sourav Ganguly won the toss and elected to bowl. However, this backfired. Australia scored a mammoth 359/2. Australian captain Ricky Ponting scored an unbeaten 140 runs in 121 balls with the help of 4 boundaries and eight sixes. Australia set India a target of 360 runs. In reply, India was bundled out for 234 and Australia won the match by 125 runs to become the world champions for the second time. Ricky Potting was adjudged player of the match for his scintillating unbeaten century.
- World Cup 2007: Adam Gilchrist 149 runs vs Sri Lanka
The 9th Cricket World Cup was played for the first time in the West Indies. The final match was played between Australia and Sri Lanka on 28 April 2007 at Bridgetown. Australia won the toss and elected to bat and swashbuckling opener Adam Gilchrist vindicated captain Ricky Ponting's decision with a blistering 149 off 104 balls. This is the highest innings ever played in a World Cup final, with the southpaw hitting 13 fours and 8 sixes. Riding on Gilchrist's aggressive ton in a rain-curtailed match, Australia scored 281/4 in the allotted 38 overs. In reply, Sri Lanka was restricted to 215 /8 and Australia won their third consecutive World Cup final by 53 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method. Gilchrist was adjudged player of the match.
- World Cup 2011: Mahela Jayawardene 103 not out vs India
The final of this World Cup was played in India at the iconic Wankhede Stadium on 2 April 2011. India became the world champion for the second time by trouncing Sri Lanka by six wickets. Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat. Thanks to skipper Mahela Jayawardene's brilliant innings of 103 not out off 88 balls, Sri Lanka scored 274/6. In response, India won the match by four wickets and Mahela Jayawardene's century went in vain.
- Two captains have scored final centuries
Two captains have scored centuries in World Cup finals so far- Sir Clive Lloyd in the 1975 World Cup final and Ricky Ponting in the 2003 World Cup final.
- Who will score a century this time?
Now all eyes are on the final of World Cup 2023, where India will take on Australia. Both the teams have many young batters. The Indian team has batters like captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, and KL Rahul, while Australia boasts of David Warner, Steve Smith, Travis Head and Glenn Maxwell. It has to be seen which player scores a century in the final. So far, there have been six World Cup finals in which no batter has scored a hundred.
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