Hyderabad: On this day, April 28, 2007, Australia notched a hat-trick of World Cup wins inflicting a 53-run defeat on Sri Lanka at Bridgetown, Barbados. Eventually, Australia became the first team to achieve this unique feat.
While Australia remained unbeaten in the tournament winning all of their matches, Sri Lanka had lost their Super Eights thriller to South Africa by 1 wicket on their way to playing the final.
Low point
The low point of the tournament was India and Pakistan's early exits. During their group matches, Bangladesh had defeated India by 5 wickets while Ireland imposed a 3-wicket defeat on Pakistan.
Coach Bob Woolmer's mysterious death further dented Pakistan's outlook in the tournament. Bangladesh and Ireland advanced to the Super Eights, thanks to Asian giants' poor performances.
Super Eights and Match of the Tournament
Super Eights round witnessed some classic matches. This round further strengthened Australia's chance of winning the World Cup as they continued to thrash oppositions by big margins. In the Super Eights round, they defeated West Indies by 103 runs, Bangladesh by 10 wickets, England by 7 wickets, Ireland by 9 wickets, Sri Lanka by 7 wickets, New Zealand by 215 runs and in the semifinal they defeated South Africa by 7 wickets.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, played thrilling matches in which close finishes exalted fans. Their first Super Eights match against South Africa was a humdinger of a contest. The world saw Lasith Malinga gaining a superstar status claiming a hat-trick and then adding one more to make it to four scalps in four successive balls. Chasing 210, South Africa required just 4 runs with 5 wickets in hand. At this juncture, nobody would have thought of a miracle. But Lasith Malinga's vicious spell changed the hue of the match in all of a sudden. He claimed four wickets off four balls.
The camera turned to the South African dressing room. Their eyes looked at the ground with the utmost disbelief. Langeveldt survived eight brutal deliveries that included a superb over from Chaminda Vaas.
In the 49th over, Ron Petersen faced Malinga. The first ball took an outside edge and the second ball again deflected off Petersen's bat. This time it dodged slip fielder and ran away to the third man for a winning boundary. South Africa took a sigh of relief. Sri Lanka lost despite Malinga's herculean effort.
After that defeat to South Africa, they went on to beat West Indies, England, New Zealand and Ireland but lost to Australia in the Super Eights. However, with four wins in six matches, they were assured of a semifinal spot. In the semifinal, they defeated New Zealand by 81 runs and sealed their place in the final.
Australia, on the other hand, registered a thumping 7-wicket win against South Africa to set the summit clash with Sri Lanka. Shaun Tait was the hero of the match for his four wickets haul.
The final
Australia captain Ricky Ponting winning the toss opted to bat first. Adam Gilchrist- with a squash ball in one of his gloves which he later revealed- set the tone of the final. He slammed 149 off 104 balls as Australia piled on 281 for 4 in the rain-curtailed 38 overs-a-side final. Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting contributed scoring 38 and 37 respectively.
Sri Lankan bowlers, who performed brilliantly throughout the tournament, proved expensive in the match. Gilchrist hit 13 boundaries and 8 massive sixes to give Australia an edge in the match.
In reply, Sri Lanka suffered a big blow as Nathan Bracken's swinging delivery took an edge of Upal Tharanga's bat which was beautifully caught by Adam Gilchrist. However, the Lankans managed to claw back in the match scoring 123 for 2 in 20 overs. Opener Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara added 116 runs from the third wicket partnership. The partnership brought Sri Lanka back in the match, but they were always behind the clock.
The match didn't end without controversy. Sri Lankans were forced to play final overs in gloomy conditions which made things difficult for already gutted Lankan batsmen. Australia eventually clinched their third successive World Cup title and fourth overall winning the match by 53 runs via Duckworth Lewis Method after bad light suspended play. It was an example of ICC's incapability to host a World Cup without flaws. The tournament in the Caribbean was a flop show which made ICC suffer a big financial blow.
