What happened when India faced Australia in an ICC Cricket World Cup final?

India and Australia had clashed in the 2003 World Cup final in Johannesburg.

India and Australia will clash in the finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 on November 19 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. India have come into the summit clash unbeaten and defeated New Zealand in the semi-finals.

On the other hand, Australia made a huge comeback in the league stage after losing their first two matches to India and Australia. They then won their remaining seven matches and qualified for the final after defeating South Africa in the semi-finals in Kolkata.

This will be the fourth Cricket World Cup final for India – 1983, 2003, and 2011. For Australia, this is their 8th appearance in the CWC finals after 1975, 1987, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2015.

However, interestingly, this will be India and Australia’s second meeting in the CWC finals. The first time they met was in the 2003 edition, which was played in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Kenya. Interestingly, Australia had defeated India in the league stage and qualified for the finals undefeated.

In the 2023 World Cup, India defeated Australia in the league stage and qualified for the finals undefeated.

Let’s take a look at what happened when India faced Australia in an ICC Cricket World Cup final?

There was a lot of excitement for the Sourav Ganguly-led Indian team as they had qualified for the finals of the World Cup after 20 years since 1983. India had defeated Kenya in the semi-finals to make it into the final. Australia, on the other hand, had been on a roll in the tournament and brushed aside Sri Lanka in the semis in a one-sided contest.

The final was played at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on March 23, 2003. Sourav Ganguly won the toss, and seeing the bouncy pitch in the Wanderers, he decided to bowl first. This decision proved to be the wrong one for India.

Young pacers Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra and even the experienced Javagal Srinath, bowled wides and no-balls galore. India gave away 37 runs as extras, and Indian pacers bowled short to Australian openers Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden, who made merry. Gilchrist (57) and Hayden (37) added 105 in just 13.1 overs.

After the fall of Hayden’s wicket, Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn put on 234* runs for the 3rd wicket. Martyn made 88* with 7 fours and 1 six, while Ponting took centre stage with 140* in 121 balls with 4 fours and 8 sixes. Indian bowlers were hammered to all parts of the ground as Australia posted a mammoth 359/2 in 50 overs.

Indian pacers gave up 217 runs in 27 overs, finishing the match by itself for India.

Back in 2003, no team was supposed to chase down that total, and when Glenn McGrath got Sachin Tendulkar out for four runs, India’s hopes ended as well. Virender Sehwag with 82 and Rahul Dravid with 47 tried valiantly, but India folded for 234 in 39.3 overs and lost the final by 125 runs.

Ricky Ponting won the player of the match and also won the World Cup for the first time as Australia’s captain. He repeated the feat in the 2007 edition as well.

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