2003 Cricket World Cup Final

2003 ICC Cricket World Cup Final

Event	2003 ICC Cricket World Cup
Australia India 359/2 234/10
Date	23 March 2003
Venue	Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa
Man of the Match	Ricky Ponting
Player of the Tournment	Sachin Tendulkar
Umpires	Steve Bucknor and David Shepherd
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The final of the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup was played in Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg on 23 March. The match was won by Australia who defeated India by 125 runs to lift their third World Cup trophy and second in a row.

Details

23 March 2003 Scorecard	Australia 359/2 (50 overs)	v	India 234 (39.2 overs)	Australia won by 125 runs Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa Umpires: Steve Bucknor (WIN) and DR Shepherd (ENG). Man of the Match: Ricky Ponting (AUS)
	Ricky Ponting 140* (121) Harbhajan Singh 2/49 (8)		Virender Sehwag 82 (81) Glenn McGrath 3/52 (8.2)
India won the toss and elected to field.

India won the toss, and Ganguly, slightly strangely, asked Australia to bat, hoping to take advantage of a pitch left damp by dew and rain. On a lively Wanderers Stadium pitch, the Australian openers took advantage of very wayward Indian opening bowlers to get off to a flying start. Adam Gilchrist (57 from 48 balls, 8 fours, 1 six) and Matthew Hayden (37 from 54 balls, 5 fours) shared an opening partnership of 105 runs in 14 overs, forcing Ganguly to bring on the spinners unusually early. The change of pace brought wickets with Adam Gilchrist, who had been swinging at everything, holing out off a sweep shot from the bowling of Harbhajan Singh. Matthew Hayden, looking somewhat better than he had throughout the tournament, soon followed for 37, leaving Australia at 2/125. Captain Ricky Ponting (140 from 121 balls, 4 fours, 8 sixes) and Damien Martyn (88 from 84 balls, 7 fours, 1 six) (playing with a broken thumb) then completed a partnership of 234 runs in 30.1 overs, an Australian record for one-day cricket. Ponting and Martyn started efficiently, putting away bad balls but mostly keeping the scoring going with good running, then letting loose in the last ten overs, taking 109 from them. Ponting in particular dispatched the bowling over the fence with regularity in scoring 8 sixes, the most from one batsman in any World Cup match at the time. The final Australian total of 359 (2 wickets, 50 overs), at a run rate of 7.18 runs an over, was their second highest ever in ODI history. India's run chase was made even more difficult after their trump card, Sachin Tendulkar, was out in the first over after skying a pull shot, Glenn McGrath completing the caught and bowled. Nevertheless, Virender Sehwag's (82 from 81 balls, 10 fours, 3 sixes) run-a-ball half century gave India respectability as they maintained a high scoring rate. Their only realistic hope—a washout—looked a possibility as the game was interrupted by rain with India at 3/103 after 17 overs. However, this rain passed by, and India's hopes were dashed when Sehwag was run out by Darren Lehmann, and again when Rahul Dravid (47 from 57 balls, 2 fours) was bowled by Brett Lee, ending their partnership of 88 runs in 13.2 overs. India's batsmen continued to throw wickets away in the chase as the run rate crept up past 7 an over, and they were finally bowled out for 234 (all out, 39.2 overs) at a run rate of 5.97 runs an over giving Australia an emphatic victory by a record margin (in World Cup finals thus far) of 125 runs, underlining their dominance of the tournament. Ponting was named "Man Of The Match", and Sachin Tendulkar was named "Player of the Series."

External links

• BBC Cricket World Cup 2003 site
• Cricket World Cup 2003 from Cricinfo
• Cricket World Cup 2003 Scorecards in CricketFundas