Nineteen years ago on this very day, 23 March, the historic ICC World Cup 2003 final between India and Australia took place at the Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg. It was the fifth World Cup final for defending champions Australia, and the second for India after their 1983 win. Australia dominated the match and beat India by 125 runs to seal their second World Cup in a row, and third in total.
The victorious Australian side celebrate their 2003 World Cup triumph. AFP
India won the toss and elected to field first in the final. However, lady luck was not with the Men in Blue in this game as Australian openers Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden made a splendid start with a 105-run partnership. Indian bowlers looked helpless against the Australian side, with any bowler except Harbhajan Singh failing to scalp any wickets.
Then-Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting did an outstanding job when he stepped to bat after Gilchrist’s dismissal and hammered an unbeaten 140 off 121 balls. Australia reached a mammoth 359/2 in 50 overs, owing to Ponting’s 234-run partnership with Damien Martyn, who was also unbeaten at 88.
India were under immense pressure even before the start of their innings. Tensions increased after legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed in the first over by Glenn McGrath. Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly steadied the Indian innings and put up a 54-run stand for the second wicket. Sehwag put forth a valiant effort, scoring 82 off 81 balls. However, after his dismissal by Lehmann, Australia edged closer to victory.
Aussie bowlers put up a clinical performance and bowled out India for 234 in the 40th over, winning the match by whopping 125 runs.
Ponting was also awarded Man of the Match for his aggressive innings, which included four boundaries and eight sixes. He eventually finished as one of the greatest batsmen in World Cup history, accumulating 1,743 runs at an average of 45.87 in 46 games.
Indian fans were crushed as their team lost the match in a one-sided manner. It was only in 2011 that India clinch the World Cup title for the second time.
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