Becoming world champions one time is challenging enough. Doing it three times in a row makes you the undisputed kings of the game.
That is what Australia became on April 28, 2007, when they defeated Sri Lanka by 53 runs in the World Cup final in the Caribbean to become champions for the third successive time.
The venue was Barbados with the Aussies the overwhelming favourites. The match was badly affected by rain which saw innings reduced to 38 overs and then 36.
Australia batted first and for the third straight time, the openers gave them a solid start. Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist added 172 runs inside just 23 overs.
However, Hayden took 55 balls for his 38, leaving Gilchrist to do all the big hitting.
The wicketkeeper batsman played one of the finest ODI innings ever seen as he clobbered 149 from just 104 balls with 13 fours and eight sixes. Ricky Ponting’s team posted 281-4 from 38 overs.
The target got reduced to 269 from 36 overs. But that was just a formality. Sri Lanka never really stood a chance.
Opener Sanath Jayasuriya (63) and Kumar Sangakkara (54) added 116 runs for the second wicket but after their departures, the wheels came off.
The Sri Lankans played out the 36 overs and only managed 215-8 in fading light as the men in green and gold lifted the title.
The brilliance of Gilchrist’s innings became even more resplendent after it emerged that he had played the innings with a squash ball stuffed in his glove, which allowed him to grip the bat better.
Sri Lanka later objected to the use of a foreign object to improve performance.
However, the MCC – custodians of the laws of the game – said Gilchrist was well within his rights to use the squash ball as it was no different to batsmen using two or more grips to hold the bat better.
“This should not be considered unfair,” the MCC said. “Similarly, it has never been considered unfair for batsmen to use two grips on the bat handle.”
Gilchrist revealed it was a friend in Australia who had come up with the idea.
"Before the World Cup, I actually practised indoors and tried to improve my grip with half a squash ball inside my gloves.
"It was a friend of mine, Bob Mueleman. His last words to me before I left the indoor training centre where I train with him in Perth were ‘if you are going to use it, make sure when you score a hundred in the final you show me and prove to me you got it in there’.
“I had stayed true to that.”
The tournament, however, did not turn out to be a success. With India and Pakistan getting knocked out early in the tournament, interest plummeted and so did viewers.
Also, the tragic death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer during the tournament cast a long shadow on the event.
