Despite being the second most successful team in the history of the World Cup, West Indies had never hosted a single edition of this biggest cricketing event. However, ICC’s rotational policy rewarded the Caribbean island as the host of the 2007 World Cup. The World Cup is full of ups and downs due to many reasons, the top two Asian teams arch rivals India-Pakistan were beaten by the minnows Bangladesh and first-timer Ireland. Following the defeat of Pakistan, their coach Bob Wolmer was found dead in his hotel room in a suspicious manner, which made the tournament full of controversies.  

In continuation to our series “A Countdown to World Cup” today we are sharing the stories of the 2007 World Cup. 

World Cup of 2007

The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 9th edition of the Cricket World Cup, a one-day international (ODI) cricket tournament held in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007. A total of 51 matches were played, three fewer than the 2003 World Cup. The 16 competing teams were initially divided into four groups, where the two best results of each group advanced to the “Super 8” format. Defending champions Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and South Africa qualified for the semi-finals, with Kangaroos defeating Sri Lanka in the final to win their third consecutive World Cup and fourth overall. 

Format

The tournament began with a league stage consisting of four groups of 16 teams. Each team played once against the other teams in their subgroup. Australia, India, England and the West Indies were placed in separate groups for logistical reasons as they were expected to have the largest number of supporters and the West Indies had limited transport and accommodation facilities. The top two teams of each group advanced to the “Super 8” stage, which was also played in a league system. The top four teams in the league made it to the semi-finals. It was the knockout stage where the first team played the 4th team and the second team played the third team in the tournament. 

Group A; Australia, South Africa, Scotland, and Netherlands

Group B; Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, and Bermuda

Group C; New Zealand, England, Kenya, Canada

Group D; West Indies, Ireland, Pakistan, and Zimbabwe

Super 8; Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, West Indies, England, Bangladesh, and Ireland

Semi-finals

The first semi-final was played between Sri Lanka and New Zealand at Sabina Park, Kingston. The favourites Sri Lanka won the toss and their captain Mahela Jayawardene scored an unbeaten 115 which helped the Lankans to set a mammoth target of 289. In reply, the Kiwis were shattered and all out for 208 in 42 overs, only Peter Fulton scored some handy runs at 46. The Lankans won by 81 runs and booked a seat in the finals, The Sri Lankan captain was honoured as player of the game. 

The second semi-final is played between the defending champions Australia and the chokers South Africa at Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet. Africa won the toss and elected to bat first, but the furious bowling of Shaun Tait with the combination of experienced Glenn McGrath dismantled Africa’s inning to 149 runs in 44 overs. Only Justin Kemp 49* was able to score some runs for Africa. In reply, Australia completed the target in just 32 overs and moved ahead to play their 6th final. Glenn McGrath received the Man of the Match award for his exceptional bowling. 

Finals

This was the first rain-affected final in the history of the ODI World Cup and was played on a reserve day, due to rain the game was reduced to 38 overs per side. Australia won the toss and elected to bat first, Adam Gilchrist off to a blistering start and played an historical innings of 149, the highest individual score in a World Cup final. Which helped Australia to set 281 in just 38 overs. In reply, Sri Lanka played a decent game and was still alive in the game until their 2 most senior batters Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumara Sangakkara were playing.  However, once the set pair departed the chances of Sri Lanka to repeat the glory of 1996 were also finished. 

Hence, Australia won the World Cup by 37 runs and took revenge for the 1996 finals, where the Lankans beat the Kangaroos in the final. Australia scored a hat-trick of winning the World Cup and added the 4th ‘global-ball’ trophy to their cabinet. Australia won the tournament undefeated and extended their World Cup unbeaten streak to 29. Adam Gilchrist was awarded Man of the Match and Australian bowler Glenn McGrath was named “Player of the series” and retired from all forms of international cricket.

Statistics 

Top Run Scorer

Top Wicket Taker