Oct 06 2009
Australia wins Champions Trophy 2009
Australia won the Champions Trophy 2009, beating New Zealand by 6 wickets. The tournament was played in South Africa. Australians made a strong point to prove the world that they are not down and out. They are coming back with a bang and it seems soon they will take over their familiar No. 1 spot. Brett Lee’s return from injury, Johnson’s return to form, Shane Watson’s attacking centuries combined with the return of Ricky Ponting’s magic touch are signs of a team on top of the world.
They were troubled only by Pakistan, who had almost eliminated the Australians in the group stages. Brett Lee held his nerve to win that match off the last delivery and in the process sent India packing. In the semi-finals, they had no trouble in despatching the England team. Now in the finals, their bowlers particularly Nathan Hauritz held the Kiwis down to a meagre total.
Shane Bond and Kyle Mills bowled an extraordinary first spell, in which they accounted for Paine and Ponting respectively. At 6 for 2, New Zealand had hopes of a fightback. At one stage, in the first ten overs, Australia could score just one run off 29 deliveries. Such was the control with which Mills and Bond bowled. The first spell from Mills read 7-2-9-1 and Bond’s spell was as attractive at 5-2-9-1.
But, the support bowlers were inadequate and could not contain the Ws, Watson and White. New Zealand missed their captain Daniel Vettori very much. His replacement Jeetan Patel had no impact on the batsmen. It looked like a walk in the park. Watson posted his second consecutive century of the tournament and won the player of the match award. Ricky Ponting won the player of the series award.
- Watson scored his 4th century in ODIs
- Watson crossed 2000 runs in ODIs during the innings. He finished the innings at a tally of 2020 runs.
- Kyle Mills became the 4th highest wicket taker in ODIs for New Zealand. He went past Sir Richard Hadlee’s taly of 158 ODI wickets. Mills, with 159 wickets, now stands behind captain Daniel Vettori (243), Chris Harris (203) and Chris Cairns (200)
- Neil Broom of New Zealand scored 37 runs, which is his highest score in ODIs so far in a short career spanning only 14 ODI matches
