It has been a while since Australia lifted the ICC World Cup 2015, outclassing their opponents on their way to the achieveing the feat for the fifth time in the history of the game.
The ICC World Cup was hosted by Australia and New Zealand earlier this year and it showcased a number of riveting encounters.
Let us walk down the memory lane and relive some those encounters of the ICC World Cup 2015:
1. India vs Pakistan: The magnitude of a World Cup result goes a notch higher when the arch-rivals India and Pakistan lock horns. India took on Pakistan in their first game of the ICC World Cup 2015.
Pakistan were handed a 76-run defeat in the match. India came out to bat first and put up a total of 300 runs for the loss of seven wickets, courtesy a Virat Kohli ton. Suresh Raina added to the misery of Pakistan by scoring a quickfire half century as well.
When Pakistan came out to bat, they started off positively, but India seamer Mohammed Shami ran through the Pakistani order. Shami ended the match with the figures of four for 35 in his spell of 10 overs. India registered their sixth World Cup victory over Pakistan across the two limted over formats of the international game.
Here is a glimpse of the India vs Pakistan match in the ICC World Cup 2015:
2. England vs Bangladesh: It was a do-or-die encounter for England when they took on Bangladesh in a group stage match of the ICC World Cup 2015. Bangladesh were sent in to bat first by England after winning the toss. The Bangla Tigers started off slowly, but they scored at a healthy run rate towards the latter half of their innings. They posted 275 runs, courtesy Mahmudullah's first ever ODI hundred and Mushfiqur Rahim's rapid 89.
England were well and truly on course to achieve the target, but Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed and Mashrafe Mortaza put a dent to their chase. Bangladesh eventually defeated England by 15 runs and knocked them out of the competition.
Let us see a bit of the highlights from the England vs Bangladesh game:
3. South Africa vs West Indies: AB de Villiers was at his sublime best against West Indies at the Syndey Cricket Ground (SCG). Believe it or not, he amassed 162 runs from just 66 balls and also became the record holder for the fastest century by any South African in a World Cup. AB tore apart the bowling lineup single-handedly and powered Proteas to a total of 408 runs at the end of 50 overs. That was not all! Imran Tahir added further salt to the wounds when he picked up five wickets to crush the West Indies by a massive margin of 257 runs.
Let us take alook at some of the highlights of South Africa vs West Indies:
Here's a glimpse of AB de Villiers going hammer and tongs:
4. India vs Bangladesh: It was the ICC World Cup 2015 quarterfinal. The stage was set for an epic encounter. India had won the toss and MS Dhoni decided to bat first. Rohit Sharma scored a classy century. Rohit ended up scoring 137 runs and Raina too added a few more to the scoreboard with his innings of 65. When Bangladesh came out to chase the total of 303 runs, they succumbed to the pressure exerted by the Indian seamers. Umesh Yadav picked four wickets for 31 runs and helped India defeat Bangladesh by 109 runs.
Here are some highlights from the India vs Bangladesh quarterfinal match of the World Cup 2015:
5. New Zealand vs Australia: This encounter saw Australia surrendering to Black Caps quick Trent Boult. Australia had won the toss and opted to bat first. They were off to a flier, until Tim Southee and knocked Aaron Finch over. Boult was introduced in his second spell, where he bowled three overs and picked up five wickets by giving away just one run. Australia were bundled for a paltry 151 runs.
McCullum set the tone for the chase with his 21-ball half-century, but the other Kiwi batsmen could not stay at the crease long enough. They were quickly nine wickets down, with Mitchell Starc turning on style and he too picked up five wickets. But Kane Williamson had the last laugh, hitting the winning runs with a six.
Australia, though, would gain revenge for this loss by beating the Kiwis in the World Cup final.
Here are the highlights of New Zealand vs Australia:
Let us take a look at the Trent Boult fiery spell:
