They were considered favourites heading into the tournament, they played like favourites, and they won the whole thing with ease.
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For thousands of cricket fans across the world, the first memory of watching cricket as a child is the ruthless Australian dominance that prevailed for close to a decade. From the late 90s to the late 2000s, the Aussies were winning almost every single conceivable prize in the sport. Quite frankly, a lot of fans of other nations were starting to get tired. Several became fans of Australia despite being from other countries after being marveled by a brand of cricket that, quite honestly, has not been even remotely replicated yet. The defining highlight of the period is a feat that is unimaginable even in today’s game. Three back-to-back world cup victories.
The year was 1999 when the Australians lifted the first of those three. It was no shock, they were not the underdogs. They were considered favorites heading into the tournament, they played like favorites, and they won the whole thing in a fashion so dominating that it would lay the foundation for the nation’s golden period in the sport. And they did it at the home of cricket, Lords.
Defending champions Sri Lanka had been eliminated by the time the final came around. The Aussies had just one obstacle to get past to win the second world cup title in their history. It was the mighty Pakistan. In those days, the Pakistan side had a look that would strike fear into the hearts of their opposition. And if one is a batter going against that devilish bowling attack, it is safe to say that they would be done for. The likes of Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, Saqlain Mushtaq, Abdul Razzaq, and Azhar Mahmood constituted the bowling attack. If that was not enough, their batting lineup was also a force to reckon. Saeed Anwar, Inzamam ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Moin Khan, and Ijaz Ahmed. That is a group of batters one certainly does not want to come up again.
The problem for Pakistan was that the team was aging. Sure, they were not so old that they should retire, but they were getting to that point. This was the one difference between them and the Australians. The Aussies had an equally terrifying lineup, and they were extremely well-balanced in terms of youth and experience.
With a batting order consisting of Mark Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Darren Lehmann, Steve Waugh, and Michael Bevan, scoring runs was never going to be an issue for the Aussies. However, it was not just batting that they relied upon. One often hears stories of how legendary the Australian bowling attack used to be. Well, this was one of those lineups. Quite right that it is considered to be the stuff of legends. Glenn McGrath, Paul Reiffel, Damien Fleming, Shane Warne, and Tom Moody lead the charge with the ball.
June 20, 1999. England’s iconic Lords stadium was prepped and ready for the 1999 cricket world cup final. The one victorious would carry the flag of cricket into the new millennium as its champion. The Australian and Pakistani captains, Steve Waugh and Wasim Akram walked out to the middle in front of a packed house. As the coin went up, both skippers must have been looking forward to their respective nation’s second world cup glory. The coin landed in Akram’s favour and the skipper confidently chose to bat first.
As it turned out, just like Sourav Ganguly’s decision in the 2003 world cup final, this decision would be their undoing. Against the same opposition as well.
It was absolute carnage from the beginning. The Australian bowlers ripped the Pakistan batting lineup apart, one by one. Looking back, English conditions favour swing bowling. With the bowling attack Pakistan had, they would have been a lot better off had they elected to field first. Either way, the Australians displayed bowling as one can never hope to see in a world cup final between two evenly matched teams. The highest run-scorer for Pakistan was Ijaz Ahmed who scored just 22 runs.
While credit must be given to every single Aussie bowler, one man cemented his legacy as one of the greatest bowlers of all time that evening. It was none other than the great Shane Warne. He bowled nine overs, gave away just 33 runs, and picked up four wickets. These four wickets were of Ijaz Ahmed, Moin Khan, Shahid Afridi, and skipper Wasim Akram. It was possibly one of those performances that make you feared by batters around the globe.
The other wicket-takers for the Aussies were Glenn McGrath and Tom Moody with a couple each, and Damien Fleming and Paul Reiffel with one each. Every single one of the five bowlers used by Steve Waugh got at least one wicket. That is just how lethal and inform that Australian lineup was back then.
Pakistan’s innings was ended by the 39th over. Their total? A mere 132. In today’s game, that is not enough even for a T20 fixture, let alone a longer format of the game. The Australian batters did not even have to break a sweat to win the world cup final. They made 133 with eight wickets in hand in the 21st over.
Opener Mark Waugh remained unbeaten at 37, supported at the end by Darren Lehmann who made 13. Future captain Ricky Ponting made 24 runs while wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist scored a brilliant 54 off just 36 deliveries.
This was the scary part. The fact that the Australians won the final of the world cup with such sheer dominance and unwavering confidence. It was clear that the team from down under was here to stay, and stay they did. They won the next two world cups, lost in the semi-final of the 2011 edition, only to win in 2015 on their home soil. Looking back, it really was a spectacle to see a side so dominant in a sport for so many years, and achieving a feat so unimaginable even by the present standards of the game.
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