Australia has done it again in the final of World Cup. Pretty similar to 1999 and 2003, when they defeated finalists Pakistan and India quite comfortably, Australia defeated Sri Lanka by 53 runs a match truncated by bad weather and light. This victory means that Australia has now won the World Cup unprecedented three times in a row.

Earlier, Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bat first. Adam Glichrist has struggle in this World Cup but he started quite confidently. On the other hand, Matthew Hayden who has made most runs in this World Cup struggled for timing and placement in initial stages. But such was the assault of Gilchrist that there was no hiding back for Sri Lanka. Glichrist hammered the likes of Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan and Lasith Malinga all around the park in his breath-taking inning of 149.

Chasing a target of 282, Sri Lanka got off to a poor start when Upul Tharanga was out for 6. Sanath Jaysurya and Kumar Sangakara then recorded a partnership of 50 runs for Sri Lanka but once they departed, Sri Lanka middle order crumbled like ninepin. Sadly for Sri Lanka, they were not given a chance to play in the ideal situation. It was pretty dark for the fielders to see anything, leave alone batsman of Sri Lanka. After 33rd over, Sri Lanka batsman finally accepted an offer for bad light, and appeared to have given up the chance of glory with an improbable requirement of 63 from 18 balls. Despite a loss, there is no doubt that Sri Lanka performed admirably through out the tournament but they were just not good enough against a side that is not only mentally tough but possesses lots of quality players in the team.

BBC