2007 World cup Final between Sri Lanka and Australia. Who wins? Scroll through and find out...
The correct world cup teams. I even made a garish orange uniform for Australia, like they wore then.
Sri Lanka wins the toss and bats first. They get a few runs before Bracken gets the key wicket of Jayasuria!
1-20
Tharanga and Sangakkara take the score to
2-100 before Sanga is cleaned bowled. I then bring on the spinners and Hoggy almost gets his man! So close!
Jayawardene shortly after smacks Hogg to Bracken, who takes the catch silly headband and all. Score is
4-137. The spinners Hogg and Symonds are really tying down the Sri Lankans.
I waste a review on this shocker. It was a full toss
So I felt like a right twat when this was given not out shortly after and I had no reviews (although it was apparently going just over but I don't believe it)
Some late order hitting from Arnold and Malinga and they reach a respectable total of
9-219. Symonds and Hogg were the picks of the bowlers.
Australia started reasonably well, reaching
1-20 when Hayden was LBW by Fernando. The Sri Lankans had hope! Out strolled the captain...
Although he was also LBW to Fernando! Clarke didn't last long either so the score was
3-36 with Gilly and Symo at the crease. Symo got on with business quickly
Although then he lobbed a pull shot to Jayasuria at mid wicket.
4-66. Watto came in and smacked his first two balls for 2 then 4. He then got a bit edgy, as shown below. Two edges in a row that flew by gully! Also by now you might be able to tell that the lighting isn't very good. The lights didn't turn on early enough so it was actually quite hard to see! I was seeing parallels with the real match...
Gilly fell and it was
5-89, in dire straights! Hussey and Watto stabilised but it almost went pear-shaped! So lucky!
Watto continued to prove the doubters wrong (who admittedly didn't really exist back in 2007) and raised the bat. He wasn't batting recklessly, he just took Vaas for about 15 off one over. Hussey was the calming figure at the other end.
But then with the score at 164 Vaas has his revenge!!! Leg stump out of the ground! The very next ball a left-hander nicked the ball to Sanga and we were in real trouble at
7-164. I first thought it was Hogg but alas no! It was a new over and it was Hussey!
Bracken smacked a four and then tried again and was caught behind. Things are looking dicey. Tait comes in and hits a few runs with Hogg watching comfortably at the non-strikers, but then bizarrely we are taken off for a rain delay! It says "Match Tied" and I was shattered, wanting to complete what I had spent 4 hours on. Yet bizarrely, the match continued and we were taken to 2.30pm the next day with no time lost! The bizarreness of this game seemed to mirror the real world cup final. The score was 8-189 at the time, only 30 runs off victory. Sri Lanka had bowled their main four bowlers almost to competion (Vaas, Murali, Fernando and Malinga) so some part timers were just around the corner! Taity took advantage and was smacking the ball around, much to the dismay of the fielders!
But then no! He loses his partner in crime Hogg and at
9-200 out strolls...
Very cautious batting. McGrath sees off overs from Muralia and Jayasuria, allowing Tait to try to score some desperate runs. The score is brought to
9-214 before Tait times one surprisingly well to cover. The fielder dives, grabs the ball and throws with only one stump to aim at and....
The dream is over. Tait is run out with an agonising 5 runs to spare. Tharanga gets MoM for his 66 off 75 that set up Sri Lanka, but personally I'd have given it to Fernando for the crucial wickets of Hayden, Ponting and Hussey (and the less crucial one of Bracken).
I hope you enjoyed the coverage
