On This Day: Adam Gilchrist powered Australia to fourth World Cup triumph

Adam Gilchrist scored 149 in 2007 World Cup final. (Source: Reuters)

On this day in 2007, Australia won their fourth World Cup and third in a row in West Indies. The Ricky Ponting-led side won the title by beating Sri Lanka in the final of the tournament. This was a special match as wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist smashed an unbeaten 149, to help his team post 281 for the loss of four wickets in 38 overs.

In the rain-affected game, Sri Lanka in reply had a dismal start when they lost Upul Tharanga for 6. Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara tried to steady the inning with a partnership of 116 runs for the second wicket. The effort was never enough as the Australian bowlers restricted Sri Lanka to 215/8 in 36 overs to hand their team a World Cup final win by 53 runs (D/L method).

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In the final, Sri Lanka barely looked in the game which was dominated by Australia. But Gilchrist’s inning stood out because he had been suffering from a lack of form in the tournament.

After the final, the Australian wicket-keeper revealed that he had used a squash ball inside his gloves to help him in the innings.

Ricky Ponting lifted the World Cup as a skipper for the second time on the trot. This was the third consecutive World Cup triumph for Australia, having crushed India in 2003 in South Africa and thumped Pakistan in 1999 in England.