Ahead of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, Here’s a Look Back at How Australia Fared at the Last Edition of the CWC

The Australian cricket team under the captaincy of Michael Clarke lifted the 2015 World Cup playing some fascinating cricket throughout the competition held in Australia and New Zealand. In the previous edition of the cup, the Oz had a poor showing and as is characteristic of an Australian – they bounced back with vengeance. The triumph was the fourth time the Aussies won the championship, reiterating the fact that there is no team like it when it comes to performing in cricket’s biggest tournament. Ahead of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, Here’s a Look at Blistering Knocks by Inzamam-Ul-Haq, MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar and Others at CWC Over the Years.

Group Stage: Australia was placed in Pool A along with New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, England, Afghanistan and Scotland. They won all their games barring a one-wicket loss to New Zealand in Auckland and an abandoned game against Bangladesh. This left them second in the points table with 9 points behind New Zealand.

Quarter-Final: Pakistan and Australia clashed in the Quarter-Finals of the 2015 World Cup with the latter triumphing. The Men in Green batting first managed 213 in Adelaide with Haris Sohail top scoring with 41. The Australians were patient in their chase with Pakistan bowling and in the end registered an easy six-wicket win. Ahead of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, Here’s 5 Disheartening Moments From Cricket’s Mega Tournament That Made Fans Emotional.

Semi-Final: A game against the defending champions India was always going to be tough for Australia but they dominated them in every department in the semis. Batting first, the Aussies put on a mammoth 328 on board. Steve Smith slammed a ton with Aaron Finch hitting 81 as they completely dominated the Indian bowling. India were bowled out for 233 in the second innings resulting in Australia progressing to the final. ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Prize Money: Winners to Receive Four Million Dollars, Two Million for Runners-up.

Final: Australia defeated New Zealand in a completely one-sided game to lift their fourth World Cup. Maybe it was the occasion that got the better of the Black Caps as they were skittled out for 183 on a good batting track of Melbourne. Australia chased down the target with seven wickets in the shade for a memorable victory.

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Most Runs for Australia: Steve Smith was the leading run scorer for Australia in the 2015 World Cup with 402 runs including a century in the semi-final game against India. The middle-order batsman got these runs at an average of 67 in seven innings.

Most Wickets for Australia: Mitchell Starc was the leading wicket-taker during this edition of Cricket World Cup. He bagged 22 wickets in eight matches and also won the 'Player of the Tournament' award.

The Oz have finally found a settled ODI team after a bit of rough patch in 2017 and the return of Steve Smith and David Warner makes them one of the favourites to lift the World Cup.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 19, 2019 03:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).