The 2000s were perhaps one of the best eras of cricket, as fans got to witness the majority of all-time greats play during the same era. The 2003 World Cup hosted by Zimbabwe and South Africa saw legends such as Sanath Jayasuriya, Ricky Ponting, Wasim Akram, Saeed Anwar, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Glenn McGrath, Chaminda Vaas, Muthiah Muralidaran and many more at the absolute peak of their powers.
It was the coming together of the biggest and toughest cricketers on the planet at the time. However, only two teams, India and Australia, made it to the final.
India made it to a World Cup final 20 years after they won their first-ever World Cup in 1983 under Kapil Dev’s leadership. Australia, on the other hand, walked in as the defending champions. Australia kept their most flawless performance of the 2003 World Cup for the summit clash in Johannesburg, having not lost a single game throughout the campaign
Sourav Ganguly, the captain of India, sent Australia in to bat after winning the toss. Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden gave the-then reigning champions a blistering start. Gilchrist went on to score fifty runs as they put up 105 runs for the first wicket.
However, captain Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn forged a record partnership that nearly sealed Australia’s third World Cup victory. The duo added 234 runs in just 30.1 overs (181 balls) to take Australia’s total to a mammoth 359-2 at the end of 50 overs. That was the Aussies’ highest ODI score at the time.
Ricky Ponting struck just one boundary in his first 74 balls to achieve his half-century before launching an incredible assault at the death.
“It took me about 70 balls to get to 50. And because the game was so under control and we were scoring quickly, I wanted to make sure I was there at the end,” Ricky Ponting told cricket.com.au in 2023.
“The 12th man came out and I said, ‘Tell the boys to strap the seatbelts on, I’m gonna go flat-out from now and see what happens’. I got most of them in the middle from there on in,” he added.
Ricky Ponting’s last 90 runs came off just 47 deliveries as he finished unbeaten on 140. It was truly one of the all-time great knocks in a World Cup by ‘Punter’. Damien Martyn stayed unbeaten on 88 off 84 balls, fighting it out even after breaking his finger.
Things went from bad to worse for India after they lost talismanic opener Sachin Tendulkar in the first over itself. Tendulkar attempted to replicate the pull shot that had earned him a four earlier in the over, but Glenn McGrath caught and bowled him for four after Tendulkar top-edged it.
The maestro finished the tournament as the top run-getter with 673 runs.
India lost Sourav Ganguly and Mohammed Kaif in quick succession to find themselves in deep trouble. However, opener Virender Sehwag continued to take the attack to the Australian bowlers and found able support in Rahul Dravid.
That wasn’t enough, as some frivolous running from Virender Sehwag resulted in a run out. He departed for a well-fought 82 from 81 balls.
From that point on, the remaining Indian batters caved in to Australia’s superiority. India continued to chase the match but were never able to put up a fight. India were all out for 234 in the 40th over and lost by a humiliatingly large margin of 125 runs in the end.
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