Australia’s players said they had saved their best performance until the end of the tournament after beating New Zealand by seven wickets with more than 16 overs to spare in the World Cup final on Sunday.
After their pace attack ripped through the vaunted New Zealand batting to dismiss the co-hosts for 183, skipper Michael Clarke (74) and Steve Smith (56 not out) hit half-centuries to drive Australia to their target and a fifth world title.
“Unbelievable feeling, we said we wanted to play our best game towards the end of the tournament and to win this final three down, I thought the boys were outstanding tonight,” said Smith.
“The bowlers really set it up for us. They’ve done it all tournament.”
Coach Darren Lehmann, who won two World Cups as a player, paid tribute to the hard work his players had put in over the tournament.
“They just keep coming up and fronting up day in, day out. They’ve been fantastic over the six weeks,” he said before his players emptied a tub of energy drink over his head, adding: “That’s why I love them.”
Australia were set on their way to victory when Player of the Tournament Mitchell Starc bowled New Zealand’s captain Brendon McCullum for a three-ball duck in the first over of the day.
The left-arm quick revealed it was a planned move hatched between him and the team’s bowling coach.
“There were plenty of nerves but it was a little plan Craig McDermott and I have been working on for a couple of days,” he said.
“It was just nice to see it come off, and to happen in front of a packed MCG was amazing.”
Like Lehmann, experienced wicketkeeper Brad Haddin was in the mood for celebration with the record 93,013 crowd.
“We delivered on the biggest stage,” he said. “It’s a great feeling at the moment, so I’m going to try to have a beer with every Australian in the stadium, it’s going to be a fun night.”
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Diriyah project at a glance
- Diriyah’s 1.9km King Salman Boulevard, a Parisian Champs-Elysees-inspired avenue, is scheduled for completion in 2028
- The Royal Diriyah Opera House is expected to be completed in four years
- Diriyah’s first of 42 hotels, the Bab Samhan hotel, will open in the first quarter of 2024
- On completion in 2030, the Diriyah project is forecast to accommodate more than 100,000 people
- The $63.2 billion Diriyah project will contribute $7.2 billion to the kingdom’s GDP
- It will create more than 178,000 jobs and aims to attract more than 50 million visits a year
- About 2,000 people work for the Diriyah Company, with more than 86 per cent being Saudi citizens
Kill Bill Volume 1
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Stars: Uma Thurman, David Carradine and Michael Madsen
Rating: 4.5/5
Emergency phone numbers in the UAE
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
Barbie
Director: Greta Gerwig
Stars: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Will Ferrell, America Ferrera
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 540hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 600Nm at 2,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Kerb weight: 1580kg
Price: From Dh750k
On sale: via special order
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
Voy! Voy! Voy!
Director: Omar Hilal
Stars: Muhammad Farrag, Bayoumi Fouad, Nelly Karim
Rating: 4/5
MATCH INFO
FA Cup final
Chelsea 1
Hazard (22' pen)
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
The five pillars of Islam
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
'Morbius'
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Stars: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona
Rating: 2/5
STAY, DAUGHTER
Author: Yasmin Azad
Publisher: Swift Press
Available: Now
Vikram Vedha
Directors: Gayatri, Pushkar
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, Saif Ali Khan, Radhika Apte
Rating: 3.5/5
