Well that had a certain inevitability written over it. After New Zealand won a tasty victory against Australia in front of a raucous Eden Park crowd, there was no way the Australians would let themselves fail in front of 95,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
And so it came to pass. Captain Michael Clarke said before the game that it would be won by skill not emotion, and in fast bowler Mitchell Starc and #3 batsman Steve Smith, the Australians were ‘bloody marvelous.’
For character, inspiration, drama, excitement and explosiveness, the Black Caps were the tournament winners for me. If ‘winning the world from the edge’ is your operating framework, then Brendan McCallum’s team delivered in spades. I was at Eden Park for the Australian game (see above) and saw highlights of the South African and West Indian heart-stoppers.
Vince Lombardi said, “Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is” (I make an exception for the All Blacks, winning is everything!).
Black Caps, we, your fans, salute you for the most thrilling of summers.
