HOW THE 10 PREVIOUS WORLD CUPS HAVE PLAYED OUT
*1975: West Indies bt Australia by 17 runs in final at Lord’s
Gary ‘Gus’ Gilmour was the star of the tournament, he took five wickets in the final but couldn’t stop Clive Lloyd scoring a match-winning century.
*1979: West Indies bt England by 92 runs in final at Lord’s
Sir Viv Richards belted 138 off 157 balls. Australia only managed one win – over Canada – in the group stage.
*1983: India bt West Indies by 43 runs in final at Lord’s
India caused a massive boilover, as Zimbabwe did on ODI debut when they defeated Australia in the tournament opener.
*1987: Australia bt England by 7 runs in final at Kolkata
David Boon’s 75 earned him man-of-the-match honours, while Craig McDermott topped the tournament wicket-taking table with 18 scalps.
*1992: Pakistan bt England by 22 runs in final at MCG
Wasim Akram swung the match on its head. Co-hosts Australia failed to reach the knock-out phase of the first World Cup to feature coloured clothing, floodlights, white balls and fielding restrictions.
*1996: Sri Lanka bt Australia by 7 wickets in final at Lahore
Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath went wicket-less, as Sri Lanka became the first side to win a World Cup final when batting second.
*1999: Australia bt Pakistan by 8 wickets in final at Lord’s
A remarkably tame affair compared to the dramatic semi-final tie against South Africa, Darren Lehmann hit the winning runs as Australia chased down a target of 133 in 20.1 overs.
*2003: Australia bt India by 125 runs in final at Johannesburg
Captain Ricky Ponting led from the front with a superb knock of 140. Australia couldn’t call on banned Shane Warne, but were undefeated at the tournament.
*2007: Australia bt Sri Lanka by 53 runs (D/L) in final at Bridgetown
Adam Gilchrist creamed 149 off 104 balls, but it was overshadowed by a farcical finish in poor light. Australia again went through undefeated.
*2011: India bt Sri Lanka bt 6 wickets in final at Mumbai
India become the first side to win a World Cup final on home soil by chasing down a target of 275. Australia were knocked out by India in the quarter-finals, when Ricky Ponting posted a century in vain.
