Australia in World Cup: Five titles make them the most successful team by far

Australia. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images) Australia have an enviable record in World Cup cricket although they were not the favourites always. They had come to the sub-continent to play the 1987 edition as underdogs but returned as the champions and that had changed the course of their history. After winning their maiden WC title, Australia went on to win four more trophies in a span of 28 years, which is more successful than any other team in history. They also have a treble of winning the cup (1999, 2003 and 2007). In 2015, Australia won their fifth title and it was the first at home. They have played two other finals that they lost (1975 and 1996). This year, Australia are not been seen as favourites blindly but they certainly have shown a lot of character in the recent series against India and Pakistan. Australia have played 83 matches at the WC since 1975 and won 62 of them while losing only 19. Two matches were non-conclusive. In 2019, Australia will play their first game against Afghanistan in Bristol on June 1. Here we take a look at Australia’s results in all 11 editions of the WC played since 1975: 1975 World Cup; lost to West Indies in the final: Ian Chappell was the captain of the Australian side in the inaugural World Cup while his brother Greg was the vice-captain. Australia were clubbed with the West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Group B and they won two and lost one game. They started off with a 73-run victory over Pakistan at Leeds with speedster Dennis Lillee taking a five-for. The Kangaroos then beat a spirited Sri Lanka by 52 runs even after scoring 328 for 5 with Alan Turner hitting a hundred. Australia then lost the final group game against eventual champions West Indies by 7 wickets after getting bowled out for 192. Chappell’s side then had a scare even after bowling out England for 94 in the semi-final and won the game by 6 wickets. In the final, Australia competed well with the Caribbeans and fell short of their steep target of 295 by just 17 runs with Ian scoring 62. 1979 World Cup; failed to progress beyond the group stage: Kim Hughes led Australia in the second edition of the WC, also played in England, but they failed to replicate their 1975 performance. Clubbed with hosts England, Pakistan and debutants Canada, the Australians disappointed their fans by managing to beat only Canada. They started off with a 6-wicket loss to England at the Lord’s and then were humbled by Pakistan by 89 runs. Powered by Alan Hurst’s five-for 27, Australia skittled out Canada for 105 runs and won the game by 7 wickets. This was the first of the four World Cups (the other three being 1983, 1992 and 2011) in which the yellow jerseys could not make the last four. 1983 World Cup; failed to progress beyond the group stage Led by Hughes again, Australia had a dreadful beginning to their campaign in the 1983 WC by losing to newcomers Zimbabwe by 13 runs. They were thrashed next by the West Indies by 101 runs but came back well to beat India, the eventual champions that year, by 162 runs. The 1975 finalists then avenged their defeat to Zimbabwe by winning by 32 runs. But Australia then lost their final two group games – against the West Indies by 7 wickets and India by 118 runs – to crash out of the race for a semi-final spot. 1987 World Cup; champions Allan Border was in charge of the Australian side in the edition held in India and Pakistan. They beat defending champions and hosts India by 1 run in the first match. Australia next beat Zimbabwe by 96 runs and then followed it up with a three-run victory over New Zealand. Australia tasted their first loss of the tournament when India beat them by 56 runs but that was the only time they lost in the entire tournament. Australia beat New Zealand by 17 runs and Zimbabwe by 70 runs in the next two matches to qualify for the semi-finals after table toppers India who were better only by the virtue of the net run-rate. The Kangaroos then overcame the resistance of Imran Khan and Javed Miandad to tame Pakistan by 18 runs in the semi-final and then a fatal reverse sweep attempt by England captain Mike Gatting saw Border’s side bagging the final by seven runs to win their maiden world title. 1992 World Cup; failed to qualify for the semi-final Given the fact that they were the defending champions and their excellent current form and also that the WC was being played at home, not many were doubtful that Border’s Australia were in to win their second title. But the Aussies let their fans down. They lost to New Zealand by 37 runs in the first game and then to debutants South Africa by 9 wickets. They managed to win against India by 1 run in the next game but were routed by England by 8 wickets next. Australia’s second win in the tournament came against Sri Lanka who they beat by 7 wickets but lost to Pakistan by 48 runs in the next match. Border’s side won the final two games – against Zimbabwe and West Indies – by 128 runs and 57 runs, respectively, but it was too late by then for them to make the semi-final. Australia finished one point short of the fourth-place holder, Pakistan, to finish fifth among nine teams. 1996 World Cup; lost to Sri Lanka in the final Mark Taylor led the Australian team in their pursuit of the second title (also in the sub-continent) and came very close to the target. Australia forfeited their game against Sri Lanka because of security reasons and then earned their first points beating debutants Kenya by 97 runs. Australia then beat India by 16 runs following the second hundred from Mark Waugh and then they trounced Zimbabwe by 8 wickets, thanks to Shane Warne’s four for 34. Australia then lost to the West Indies by 4 wickets in the final group game to finish as the second place-holder in the group after the Lankans. Waugh then belted his third hundred of the tournament in a high-scoring quarter-final against New Zealand which the Australians clinched by 6 wickets. Thereafter, Warne spun his side to an unbelievable win over the West Indies in the semi-final but couldn’t throw enough challenge to a powerful Sri Lanka in the final as Aravinda de Silva’s hundred saw the Asians winning their maiden title. 1999 World Cup; champions Australia picked their second world title under the captaincy of Steve Waugh and it was in England in 1999, 24 years since they lost their first WC final to the Windies there. Australia started off with a 6-wicket win over debutants Scotland at New Road, Worcester, but lost to New Zealand by 5 wickets and Pakistan by 10 runs in the next two games. The Kangaroos then started their marathon winning streak which was only halted only in the 2011 WC by Pakistan. They beat Bangladesh by 7 wickets and the Windies by 6 wickets, respectively, to make the Super Six. In the Super Six stage, Australia beat India by 77 runs, tamed a spirited Zimbabwe by 44 runs and then grabbed the famous victory over South Africa by 5 wickets in which Herschelle Gibbs “dropped the cup”. The semi-final that Australia played against the Proteas went down in history as one of the best-played in WC as they pipped the opponents despite the match ending in a tie. The final though was one-sided as Australia trounced Pakistan by 8 wickets in just 20 overs. 2003 World Cup; champions Led by Ricky Ponting, the Australians didn’t drop a single game in this WC on way to become world champions for the third time. They beat Pakistan by 82 runs, India by 9 wickets, Netherlands by 75 runs in D-L method, Zimbabwe by 7 wickets, Namibia by 256 runs and England by 2 wickets. In the Super Six stage, Australia thrashed Sri Lanka and New Zealand by 96 runs each and Kenya by 5 wickets. They beat the Lankans again in the semi-finals by 48 runs in D-L method and then crushed India by 125 runs in the final after Ponting slammed 140 not out in just 121 balls. 2007 World Cup; champions Australia continued with their top form in this World Cup as well to complete the treble. They thrashed Scotland by 203 runs; the Netherlands by 229 runs and South Africa by 83 runs in the group stage to make the Super Eight. Their highest score of 377 in the group stage came against South Africa and not the other two low-ranked teams. In the Super Eight round too, Ricky Ponting’s side did not drop a single game. They beat the West Indies by 103 runs; Bangladesh by 10 wickets; England by 7 wickets; Ireland by 9 wickets; Sri Lanka by 7 wickets and New Zealand by 215 runs. In the semi-final, The Kangaroos beat South Africa by 7 wickets in a game which was a complete antithesis to the 1999 semi-final and then in the final, they won against Sri Lanka by 53 runs in Duckworth-Lewis method. 2011 World Cup; lost to India in quarter-finals After dominating the cricket World Cup for 12 years, Australia eventually lost their crown in the 2011 edition. Led by Ponting, the Australians started off well with a 91-run win over Zimbabwe and they followed it up with a 7-wicket win over New Zealand. Australia’s next game with Sri Lanka was disrupted by rain and then they had a close 60-run win over Kenya and trounced Canada by 7 wickets. Ponting’s men eventually faced their first defeat in the WC since 1999 in their final group game which was against Pakistan by 4 wickets. Australia finished third in the group even though finishing at same points with Sri Lanka, thanks to an inferior net run-rate. Australia met MS Dhoni’s India and despite a century by Ricky Ponting, they lost the game by 5 wickets to lose their world champions’ crown after 12 years. 2015 World Cup; champions Led by Michael Clarke, Australia won their fifth WC this year but the first time at home. They started their campaign with a 111-run bulldozing of England and after the match against Bangladesh got washed out, the Aussies suffered a 1-wicket loss to New Zealand who were on a roll that WC. Australia then returned to crush debutants Afghanistan by 275 runs and then tamed a spirited Sri Lanka, winning by 64 runs. The hosts then wrapped up their league run with a 7-wicket victory over Scotland to finish second in the group after the Black Caps with nine points. In the quarter-finals, Australia faced Pakistan who bowled their heart out after getting all-out for 213 (Wahab Riaz’s spell against Shane Watson still rattles us) but eventually prevailed over them, winning by 6 wickets. The side then avenged the 2011 loss as they snatched India’s crown in the semi-final, beating them by 95 runs. The final was between the two trans-Tasman rivals and it was Australia who had the last laugh this time as they bowled New Zealand out for 183 and won by 7 wickets. Get the latest Cricket News and updates from the Indian Premier League (IPL), Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.

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