Australia have been the most successful team in the history of World Cups, having lifted the title a record five times since the inception of the championship in 1975. But from 1999 till 2007, Australia dominated the tournament unlike ever seen before, by winning three editions in — 1999, 2003 and 2007.
On this day in 2007, Australia completed a hat-trick of world titles (four overall till 2007) by beating Sri Lanka by 53 runs in a rain-curtailed final at Kensington Oval in Barbados.
Batting first, riding on opener Adam Gilchrist’s scintillating century, the Aussies posted 281 in their designated 50 overs. The southpaw was at his sublime best as he bludgeoned 149 runs off 129 balls, which included 13 fours and 8 huge six.
Sri Lanka were right in the chase when Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumara Sangakkara stitched a century stand for the second wicket. However, once Sangakkara fell for his individual score of 54, Sri Lanka kept losing wickets at regular intervals and fell behind the scoring rate. The rain didn’t help their cause either as in the end, Australia won the match convincingly, via the Duckworth and Lewis method.
Later, Gilchrist revealed that he had a squash ball inside his gloves while he stuck that majestic century. This created quite an uproar as many felt it gave the Aussie an undue advantage over the Lankan bowlers.
“(It was) the guy (Bob Meuleman) who helps me with my batting at home. I had a squash ball in my bottom hand in the glove that I use in training just to help with my grip," said Gilchrist.
“His last words to me before I left the indoor training centre where I train with him in Perth were ‘if you are going to use it, make sure when you score a hundred in the final you show me and prove to me you got it in there’.
“I had stayed true to that," said Gilchirst.