Australia crushed New Zealand in Sunday’s World Cup final, wrapping up a fifth ODI title with seven wickets in hand and 101 balls to spare.
From the moment Brendon McCullum was dismissed for a duck in the opening over at the MCG, the trans-Tasman tussle was on Australia’s terms.
Grant Elliott’s plucky 83 pushed the Blackcaps to a total of 183, their innings ending after 45 overs and a woeful collapse of 7-33.
McCullum’s aggression remained unchecked, with the New Zealand skipper employing four slips early and Trent Boult’s opening spell lasting seven overs.
Aaron Finch fell for a duck in Boult’s first over, while David Warner departed after a quickfire 45.
But the visitors simply didn’t have anywhere near enough runs to play with.
Outgoing ODI captain Michael Clarke and Steve Smith, the man widely tipped to be his successor, were rarely troubled in a 112-run stand.
Clarke and Smith were in the middle when the hosts eased past the halfway mark of their chase in the 19th over.
The classy pair remained there until Clarke was bowled by Matt Henry when the victory equation was nine runs from 19 overs.
Clarke top-scored for Australia with 74 in his 245th and final ODI, having revealed on Saturday he would give up the one-day game to prolong his Test career.
Smith brought up the winning runs by pulling Henry to the fence, with his teammates charging onto the field in celebration and a record crowd of 93,013 getting to their feet.
The result means Australia have won four of the past five World Cups, with a quarter-final exit in 2011 the only blemish.
McCullum won the toss but fell victim to a superb in-dipper from Mitchell Starc, who finished with two scalps to be the World Cup’s leading wicket-taker with 22 victims.
New Zealand stumbled to 3-39 in the 13th over, with dangermen Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson back in the sheds after tame dismissals to Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Johnson respectively.
Elliott, the hero of his side’s dramatic win over South Africa in their semi-final, stepped up under immense pressure again.
This time he received scant support from his teammates.
The Johannesburg-born batsman shared a 111-run stand with Ross Taylor, the pair knuckling down particularly well in a two-over spell from Starc.
Taylor’s dismissal, engineered by James Faulkner but completed thanks to a diving one-handed catch from Brad Haddin, was the beginning of the end.
Elliott’s run-a-ball knock was not without luck.
The 36-year-old was on 15 when he was trapped lbw by Maxwell in the 20th over.
However, umpire Kumar Dharmasena’s decision was overturned when ball-tracking technology suggested it had turned sharply and was going to miss leg stump.
The right-hander eventually fell to Faulkner, who claimed three wickets to be Australia’s leading wicket-taker in the final alongside Johnson.
McCullum, Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi and Matt Henry all failed to get off the mark – a mix of poor batting and potent bowling.
