Starc, Johnson and 45,000 at the MCG: the 2015 World Cup final
New Zealand arrived at their first World Cup final unbeaten in the tournament and were bowled out for 183 by Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson and James Faulkner. Michael Clarke's 74 in his last one-day international took Australia home by 7 wickets with more than 16 overs to spare.
Unbeaten into the final
New Zealand went into the 2015 World Cup final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground having won every match of the tournament, including a group-stage thriller against Australia at Eden Park and a last-ball semi-final win over South Africa, the finish of which had turned Grant Elliott into a national hero days earlier. It was New Zealand's first World Cup final, while co-host Australia were appearing in their sixth. Brendon McCullum, New Zealand's captain, won the toss and chose to bat in front of a crowd of more than 90,000.
McCullum falls in the first over
The final began about as badly as it could have for New Zealand. McCullum, who had made a habit of attacking from the first ball all tournament, was bowled by Mitchell Starc for a duck with only 1 run on the board, and Martin Guptill, McCullum's regular attacking partner, was bowled by Glenn Maxwell for 15 with the score on 33. Kane Williamson followed for 12, caught off Mitchell Johnson, and New Zealand were 39 for 3 inside the 13th over, their top order gone against a fast, disciplined Australian attack on a pitch offering pace and bounce.
Taylor and Elliott try to rebuild
Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott put together the innings' one substantial partnership, adding 111 for the fourth wicket and taking New Zealand from 39 to 150. Taylor made 40 before he was caught behind off James Faulkner, and from there Elliott, the semi-final hero, kept fighting almost alone. He finished with 83 from 82 balls, the top score of the innings, but wickets kept falling at the other end around him: Corey Anderson was out without scoring in the same over as Taylor, Luke Ronchi was caught off Starc for a duck, and Daniel Vettori made only 9 before he too was out, bowled by Johnson. Elliott himself was finally out, caught behind off Faulkner, with the score on 171, the eighth wicket to fall.
The tail folds
What remained of the innings went quickly. Matt Henry was caught off Johnson without scoring, Tim Southee struck a quick 11 with a six before he was run out by Maxwell, and Trent Boult was left not out at the end. New Zealand were all out for 183 in the 45th over, James Faulkner finishing with 3 for 36 and Mitchell Johnson 3 for 30, with Mitchell Starc taking 2 for 20 from his 8 overs. It was a modest total for a final played at the ground, and a long way short of what New Zealand had posted through the rest of the tournament.
A record crowd at the MCG
The 2015 tournament was the first World Cup jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, and the final drew a crowd reported at more than 93,000, one of the largest ever to watch a game of cricket and a mark that stood as the biggest attendance for a men's World Cup final. The scale of the occasion added to the weight on New Zealand's top order once Starc, Johnson and Faulkner had them under pressure early: a collapse that might have passed with less notice in a smaller match instead unfolded in front of the largest one-day crowd many of the players had ever experienced. For New Zealand supporters who had followed the side through six weeks of unbeaten cricket at home, the size of the crowd only sharpened the disappointment of how quickly the innings came apart. Even so, the atmosphere at the ground was widely described afterwards as good-natured rather than hostile, a fitting send-off for a tournament that both co-hosts had used to draw new crowds to the one-day game.
Warner and Smith set the chase up
Australia lost Aaron Finch cheaply, caught off Trent Boult for a duck with the score on 2, but David Warner and Steven Smith took the game away from New Zealand from there. Warner made 45 before he was caught off Matt Henry, and Smith, unbeaten at the end on 56, batted through the middle of the chase with the calm that had marked his tournament. The pair added 61 for the second wicket, and by the time Warner was out, with Australia on 63, the required rate had never threatened to become a problem.
Clarke's last ODI innings
Michael Clarke, Australia's captain, joined Smith and the two added 112 for the third wicket, taking the total to 175 before Clarke was bowled by Matt Henry for 74, an innings that turned out to be his last in one-day international cricket; he retired from the format shortly after the tournament. Shane Watson was unbeaten alongside Smith at the finish, and Australia reached 186 for 3 in the 34th over, winning by 7 wickets with more than 16 overs to spare, a comfortable margin against a side that had not lost all tournament.
What the final meant
It was Australia's fifth World Cup title, won on home soil in front of their own crowd, and James Faulkner was named man of the match for his 3 for 36 with the ball. For New Zealand, reaching their first World Cup final, having gone unbeaten until that night, remained a landmark for the team even in defeat, and Brendon McCullum's attacking captaincy through the tournament was widely credited with changing how the side, and other teams, approached one-day cricket in the years that followed.
The full scorecard for the final, innings by innings, is on this page, and both finalists can be followed further on the Australia and New Zealand team pages. In The Chase you can take either side into a World Cup final and see whether you can defend a total the way Australia's bowlers did, or chase one down the way Smith and Clarke did.
Sources
- CricArcade World Cup archive: the full scorecard, fall of wickets and bowling figures on this page
- ESPNcricinfo: ICC Cricket World Cup 2014/15 final, Australia v New Zealand, scorecard and report
- Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2016: the 2015 World Cup