The Australian men's cricket team completed a historic treble on April 28 in 2007 when they clinched their fourth ICC World Cup title by beating Sri Lanka in the summit clash at Bridgetown.
Adam Gilchrist produced a special performance on the big day as Australia crushed Sri Lanka by 53 runs via D/L method in the rain-curtailed final to clinch their 3rd World Cup in a row and defend the title for the second time in succession.
The win also saw Ricky Ponting become only the second captain after West Indies legend Clive Lloyd to lift the trophy twice while Australia stretched their unbeaten run in the tournament to 29 matches since May 1999.
First it was Gilchrist who played a breathtaking knock to take Australia to 281 for 4 in the 38-overs-per-side match. Gilchrist smashed 149 off 104 balls with 13 fours and 8 sixes at a staggering strike rate of 143.26 to leave the Lankans in disbelief.
The importance of his innings can be gauged by the fact that the next best score for Australia came from his opening partner Matthew Hayden, who made 38 off 55 balls in the 1st-wicket stand which was worth 172 runs.
The target was then revised to 269 from 36 overs due to the weather conditions. Former captain Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara led a strong reply for the 1996 world champions, scoring 63 and 54 runs respectively, but once they were dismissed the team lost direction and collapsed from 145 for 3 to 211 for 8 in 36 overs under fading lights and cloudy skies.
Gilchrist later revealed that he was batting with a squash ball inside his left gloveI’d been using this little device on the advice of a batting coach back in Perth. Often, he’d get me to put this squash ball in my bottom hand, and basically, it’s about putting the glove on, and my coach told me, ‘Try not to grip the bat too much with those last two, maybe three, fingers’,” Gilchrist said in an interview with ICC.
BIRTH OF A LEGEND
Also on this day in 1968, one of the greatest cricketers to have come out of Zimbabwe was born. Andy Flower turns 52 today.
Andy Flower, who was born in Cape Town in South Africa, played 63 Tests and 213 ODIs for Zimbabwe, amassing 11,580 runs (4794 in Tests, 6786 in ODIs). He hit 12 centuries in Tests and 4 in ODI cricket during his 11-year career, also affecting 333 dismissals as the team's wicketkeeper.
Flower's contribution to Zimbabwe cricket was immense and he was their best player during their most fruitful phase in the sport.
After his retirement in 2003, Flower switched his attention to coaching and continued his contribution to cricket.
The flower was appointed England assistant coach to Peter Moores in 2007, took over as head coach two years later, and then switched to working with the Young Lions in 2014.
During his spell as head coach, Flower led the team to No. 1 in the Test rankings, title success at the 2010 World Twenty20 and an Ashes series win in Australia in 2010-11.
He ended his association with the England and Wales Cricket Board in 2019, after a 12-year stint, and joined IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab as their head coach in March this year.
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