Interview/Features 55
NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2015
Clarke celebrating with his wife Kyly and the trophy in the Australian dressing room
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ichael Clarke – who joins Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting (twice) in the pantheon of Australia’s World Cup-winning captains – scored a classy 74 in 72 balls in his final one-day international before quitting the format to focus on Tests. And with Australia overhauling the New Zealanders’ disappointing total of 183 with seven wickets and nearly 17 overs to spare, he went out in style, watched by an MCG crowd of 93,013 – an official world record for a single day’s cricket. Referring to the black armband he wore in memory of Hughes, who died in November after being struck on the neck by a short-pitched delivery during a domestic game in Sydney, Clarke said: ‘As you can see it’s got PH on it. I’ll wear it every game I play for Australia. For everyone in Australian cricket it’s been a tough few months. “We played this World Cup with 16 players and this is certainly dedicated to our little brother and team-mate Phillip Hughes. Hughesy used to party as good as any of them, so I’ll make sure we drink two at a time – one for Hughesy and one for us. “Hughes used to party as good as any of them so I’ll make sure we drink two (beers) at a time tonight, one for Hughesy and one for us.” Hughes would have approved of the manner in which Australia crushed their trans-Tasman cousins, even if the neutrals were deprived of the climax which the tournament – if it’s honest with itself – so badly needed. From the moment Mitchell Starc bowled New Zealand’s captain and talisman Brendon McCullum in the game’s first over, a sense of inevitability descended on the MCG like the evening shadows. Here were the pretournament favourites doling out a painful lesson to a team taking part in their first World Cup final. Victory path The one-way traffic was held up only during a gutsy fourth-wicket stand of 111 between Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott, New Zealand’s hero during their semi-final thriller against South Africa. But James Faulkner, named man of the match for figures of 3 for 36, removed Taylor and the big-hitting Corey Anderson in the first over of the batting powerplay, and wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi fell in the next, to the outstanding Starc. Elliott went on to make 83, but New Zealand’s last seven fell for just 33 in 10 overs. After eight successive games on their smaller, less intimidating, home grounds, they never came to terms with either the occasion or the relentlessness of the Australian attack. The dismissal of Martin Guptill, who had hammered West Indies for an unbeaten 237 from 163 balls in the quarter-finals, summed up their day: trying to dab a gentle off-break from Glenn Maxwell through backward
Australian players celebrating their Cricket World Cup triumph
Clarke dedicates Cricket World Cup to late teammate An emotional captain Michael Clarke dedicated Australia’s unprecedented fifth World Cup triumph to his former team-mate and friend Phillip Hughes after his side trounced New Zealand in the final at Melbourne.
New Zealand’s Grant Elliott (right) bats on his way to 83 - the highest score by any player during the Black Caps’ innings
point, he was bowled for 15. Australia lost Aaron Finch to Trent Boult in the second over of the reply, but for New Zealand’s bowlers that was as good as it got. David Warner hit 45 in 46 balls, before Clarke joined Steve Smith – his heir apparent – to add 112. After carting Tim Southee for four successive fours, Clarke chopped on against Matt Henry with nine runs still needed, but Smith was there at the end, a fifth successive half-century in his increasingly irresistible bag. Clarke said: “We’re really proud, it’s a wonderful achievement. It’s a great thing just to make a World Cup final, but to be able to win in your own
back yard in front of your family and friends is extremely special and I guarantee we’ll celebrate hard tonight.” Good Fight “The New Zealand team deserve a lot of credit. They’re always a tough team to beat it seems in any sporting event. Australia v New Zealand is always an exciting contest and tonight was no different.’ “It’s been an honour and a privilege to represent my country in both Test and one-day cricket and Twenty20 cricket. “The time is right for me to walk away from one-day cricket, but I’ll keep playing Test cricket.’
Australia beat New Zealand by seven wickets in World Cup.” As Australia prepared to celebrate into the night and beyond, it was left to McCullum to confirm his status as one of the World Cup’s most impressive characters. He said: “It’s been one hell of a ride for us right the way through. I think we’ve played some outstanding cricket and we ran into an outstanding Australia team tonight who continue to set the way in international cricket and full credit to them, they deserve to be champions. “Michael Clarke as well, he deserves to bow out a World Cup-winning champion too. They were outstanding in this World Cup and thoroughly deserved to win. “We were the second-best team on the day and all credit to Australia.” McCullum took time to reflect on the tournament as a whole and said he was ‘proud’ of his team’s performances as they became the first New Zealand side to reach a World Cup final. He added: “We’ve forged some memories and friendships that will last forever. “Obviously we’re not able to lift the trophy but the brand of cricket and the entertainment that we’ve been able to give people throughout our country and throughout the world is something we’re immensely proud of. “We have no regrets and we walk away from this tournament with our heads held high. “It’s the greatest time of your life to be able to represent your country on the international stage with a group of friends and then put your skills against the world’s best - it is the greatest time of our lives and that’s how we tried to play the game, play with a free spirit and plenty of heart all the way along.”