What happened when India met Australia in 2003 WC final?
Australia and India will be up against each other in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup final. It will be a rematch of the 2003 final which saw the Aussies thrash India by 125 runs to lift their third WC title. While the Aussies would look to replicate their heroics, India aim to settle the scores. Here is how the 2003 final panned out.
A century opening stand from Australia
Batting first in Johannesburg, the Aussies were off to a flier as openers Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden added 105 runs in just 14 overs. While Gilchrist (57 off 48) was the aggressor and took the Indian bowlers to cleaners, Hayden (37 off 54) played the second fiddle. Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh dismissed both southpaws in quick intervals to slow down the scoring rate.
Ponting, Martyn steady the ship
The departure of both openers certainly gave a breather to Team India as skipper Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn took some time early on. Many even reckon Ponting survived a close LBW after failing to connect a sweep shot off part-time spinner Nayan Mongia's delivery. The Aussie captain was batting on 46 at that time.
Martyn gets to his fifty
Martyn did not take long to shift gears and brought up his fifty off 46 balls. Ponting took 74 balls to complete his fifty. The Aussie skipper shifted gears altogether after getting the mark and got to his hundred off just 103 balls. There was no stopping the two in the slog overs as runs flowed for fun.
Australia post the highest WC total
While Ponting finished with an unbeaten 121-ball 140, Martyn made 88* off 84 deliveries. They added 234* runs for the third wicket as Australia finish at 359/2, the only 300-plus total in a WC final to date. Notably, Indian bowlers gave away 37 extras in that game. While Harbhajan (2/49) was India's only wicket-taker, Zaheer Khan (9.57) and Javagal Srinath (8.7) bowled expensive spells.
Poor start for India
India were off to a horrendous start as Sachin Tendulkar (4), the highest run-getter of that event, fell to Glenn McGrath in the opening over. Virender Sehwag and skipper Sourav Ganguly then added 54 runs for the second wicket before the latter departed for 24. Brett Lee dismissed him. McGrath then dismissed Mohammad Kaif for a duck, reducing India to 3/59.
The Sehwag-Dravid partnership
Sehwag, meanwhile, continued to attack and he also found a potent partner in Rahul Dravid. The duo added 88 runs before Sehwag fell for 82. Dravid ended up scoring 47. Yuvraj Singh (24) and Dinesh Mongia (12) also threw away their starts as the latter's dismissal brought curtains to India's hopes. The tail-enders could not do much as India were folded for 234.
Biggest win in WC final history
The Men in Blue lost the contest by 125 runs. This is the biggest defeat in an ODI WC final in terms of runs. McGrath (3/53) was the pick of the Aussie bowlers. Andrew Symonds and Lee also took two wickets apiece. Brad Hogg and Andy Bichel dismissed one batter apiece as the Aussies tasted glory yet again.
