Before the Sunday final at the Motera Stadium, let us take a look at how the preview of the five final fixtures unfolded.
On Sunday, November 19, 2023, the ICC Cricket World Cup finale will be hosted at the Narendra Modi Stadium, also known as Motera Stadium. At this juncture, it is incredibly hard to determine who will end up winning the trophy. Therefore, instead of predicting the future, let us go back in time and take a look at how the last five World Cup finals unfolded.
2019
Hosted by England and played at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground, the match turned out to be quite a controversy given how the World Cup was handed over to the English team. Batting first, New Zealand scored 241, and in reply, England also scored 241 runs and tied the game. The game went into a Super Over with 15 runs scored by England. This time, it was New Zealand that scored 15 runs and equalised the game once again. Sadly, instead of playing another over, the trophy was handed over to England because they scored over boundaries. The game turned out to be one of the most controversial finals in cricketing history.
2015
The New Zealand team has been consistently making it into the semi-finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup. In the last two editions, the team reached the final. Call it bad luck or being poor at dealing with pressure, the team succumbed in front of Australia in the 2015 final. Batting first, the team only scored a meagre target of 183, with everyone failing to hit the mark except Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott. The mighty Australians chased the target in only 33.3 overs.
2011
2011 was a great year for India, not just cricket enthusiasts. After all, the World Cup was hosted by India, and the Men in Blue reached the final to face Sri Lanka. Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium hosted the final match, with Sri Lanka batting first, posting a decent target of 274. For India, things looked bleak at the beginning as Sehwag went back for a duck, whereas Tendulkar only scored 18 runs. Then came Gautam Gambhir, who turned the tide in India’s favour with a mammoth 97. On the other hand, Dhoni continued his attack and finished the game in style with a six. Kohli also added a crucial 35 runs.
.@GautamGambhir’s 97 runs in the 2011 World Cup final have a permanent place in the hearts and minds of millions of Indian cricket lovers.
— cricket (@Cricketupadetes) November 14, 2023
Re-live one of the greatest ODI knocks and let’s hope someone will play Gauti’s role in the semi-final and final. pic.twitter.com/rqTqcZh7rD
2007
In 1996, Sri Lanka defeated Australia in the final. In 2007, Australia wanted its revenge. Not to forget, Australia was also chasing a unique target, i.e., winning the World Cup three times in a row. Rain thwarted the game as Australia managed to score 281 runs in a shortened inning of 38 overs instead of 50. Using the D/L method, Sri Lanka had to score 269 runs in 36 overs. Unfortunately, only Jayasuriya and Sangakkara’s bats clicked, whereas the rest of the team faltered. Australia became the first and remains the only team to win the trophy three consecutive times.
2003
While 2011 was a jubilant year for India, 2003 turned out to be a black year. After all, it was an Indian team full of stars, starting with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, and Ashish Nehra, with Sourav Ganguly’s dynamic captaincy, which helped the team win all eight games in the group stage. However, in the final, the team simply could not keep its composure. The bowling department conceded 359 runs, whereas in reply, all 10 batters from the Indian side could only score 234 runs.
