On this day, 2007: ICC World Cup Final debacle
On this day, 15 years ago, Australia won the ICC World Cup final, but not before a comical and controversial final hour at Kensington Oval in Barbados. They were eventually crowned champions in unprecedented circumstances.
The 2007 ICC World Cup final set the scene for a dominant Australian team that won their third consecutive World Cup, cruising through the tournament unbeaten.
The 53-run victory against Sri Lanka will forever be remembered as the final swansong of Australia's 10-15 year dominance in world cricket across all formats.
How the 2007 World Cup final debacle unfolded
The triumph was headlined by a spectacular hundred from Adam Gilchrist, who bludgeoned the Sri Lankan attack to all parts of the ground, scoring 149 in the first innings.
104-ball 149.
A hat-trick of World Cup wins for Australia!
#OnThisDay in 2007, Ricky Ponting's side beat Sri Lanka in the CWC final by 53 runs on DLS method. This was Australia's third straight CWC title and fourth overall 🙌
Player of the Match Adam Gilchrist smashed a 🔥 104-ball 149. https://t.co/n6K6ABtQCm
Gilchrist scored the highest individual score by any player in an ICC World Cup final. His 149 was more than half of Australia's total of 281, which was enough to secure their third consecutive World Cup title. Facing 104 balls, he choked the life out of the Sri Lankan bowlers, whacking 13 fours and eight sixes.
But the match will also be infamously remembered for the ICC's organizational woes, which stringed from the opening ceremony to the last few overs of the final. The final three overs of the match ended up being bowled in near darkness, with clueless umpires unsure of the correct Duckworth-Lewis equation, which called forth a sour end to the tournament.
With three overs left and 60-odd runs for Sri Lanka to get, the game was all but complete, with the remaining deliveries a mere formality. But with the light unplayable at that point, the Sri Lankan batters accepted the umpires' offer to go off, knowing the game was dead.
Australia began their celebrations by rejoicing across all corners of Kensington Oval. But it was premature.
The requisite 20 overs to constitute a second innings had been bowled, meaning the game could technically conclude with an Australian victory. But then came the interjection from the umpires that the final three overs would be bowled the next day.
Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene and Australian captain Ricky Ponting deliberated with the umpires, effectively agreeing that the stupidity of that proposition was more stupid than bowling three overs on the night - in darkness.
So that's what occurred.
The last rites were simply bemusing. Spin bowlers from both ends, a meager flow of singles from the batters and a resigned look on all the players' faces.
"It's classic officialdom gone mad. Classic umpiring this. Just need a bit of common sense to prevail," former England batter Mike Atherton said on commentary.
Andrew Symonds seemingly bowled the last ball of the tournament to an unidentifiable Sri Lanka batter. Very few people at the venue would have been able to picture what was occurring in the middle, let alone the players.
"They're doing well to even see the ball," leading cricket broadcaster Mark Nicholas said on commentary.
Out! Stumped! I think...." he joked.
But Australia eventually had a second go at celebrating the title after the overs were bowled, leaving celebrations to occur at around 6:30pm local time - in complete darkness in the tropics.
"But that's another sad thing, they'll do so in complete darkness and no one will be able to share the moment. That's a real shame because Australia's celebrations deserve a whole lot better," Nicholas continued.