It was not as what the Cricketing Pundits Predicted, but what happened was far from a Great Competition
Forget patriotism, forget heroism. Ladies and Gentleman, here is what you will call full fledged Hammering. Or in other words Professionalism! The Australians, following in on Adam Gilchrist’s ‘Invasion’, proved why they are actually called ‘Mighty’. They’ve got class alright, but when the rains came down at Barbados in the World Cup 2007 final, they knew they’ve got the extreme factors of the game coming into light.

Add to this the roughage of Adam Gilchrist, with a bit of luck. That means in a 38 over match an individual gets a score of 149(129 balls). So how many have done that until now. And then in a 38 over match, Sri Lanka, who had never chased a score successfully at a rate more than 6.5 had to do it now with 7.38. Well that could have been possible. But against Australians, you need luck, talent and prayers. Sir Lankans had prayers, but talent and luck…well those two factors left them when Gilly was playing his stupendous shots.

The Farce:

The farce that happened in the final was a correct ending for a World Cup that was too long, shrouded with too many mystery, had India and Pakistan out, where there were too many one sided matches, where there too many teams, and a Murder Mystery.To play spoilsport it was rains first. So there were 38 overs a side match. And another interruption in the Sri Lankan innings bought the Duckworth/Lewis method with 36 overs max.

At the end of the 33rd over, Umpire Aleem Dar offered light to Sri Lankan Batsmen, who were then at 260/7. The batsmen took the light, and the Australian’s started celebrating. In the mean time, the stadium management thought it was time for ceremony, and brought the podium in the middle of the ground.

Mr.Aleem Dar, then came out and told Ricky Ponting that the match wasn’t over yet. And they had to play it, tomorrow. And then SENSE prevailed as Mahela Jayawardane came out and told the umpires and his other counterpart that they would like to PLAY!

As Ian Chappel put it was a Fitting Finish for a World Cup, that was a doom from the beginning. And the fact that this was a major tournament with in six months after Champions Trophy, meant that the height of expectation wasn’t quite there.
But in the mean while the Astrological and Cricketing Pundits who thought Australia was finished, didn’t know that professionalism, supported by an excellent Cricketing system, made the impossible Possible.

And like India last time, Sri Lankans have to be contended that they are the second best team. And for all their heroism, it inspired LTTE to keep peace for quite some time. But then their failure probably drove LTTE nuts. They bombed Colombo, and now half of the city is in Darkness!

Farce or no matter what the Australians rule. In the mean time, McGrath who was ruled Player of the Tournament, played his last match. May be Gilly will be gone soon too. Whatever. World Cup is over for now!