Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden put on their 16th 100-plus stand for the opening wicket, while appearing in their 100th innings together. They thus equalled the record held by Indian the pair of Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar in 117 innings.
This was also the Aussie pair’s fifth century stand in 20 World Cup innings. They eclipsed the previous record of four century stands by the South African pair of Herschelle Gibbs and Gary Kirsten in 12 innings.
The 172-run stand was also their best in ODIs. Previous best: 170 vs SA in Durban (2001-02).
With 18 sixes in a World Cup, Hayden has hit the most over-boundaries in any ODI tournament.
Adam Gilchrist’s 149 (104 balls) was his 15th ODI century (268 matches). Interestingly, Australia have never lost a match in which he has scored a hundred.
His 149 was the best individual score made in a World Cup final. The previous record was held by his captain Ricky Ponting (140 not out vs India, 2003). It was also the highest by any wicketkeeper in a World Cup, eclipsing Rahul Dravid’s 145 against Sri Lanka in Taunton in 1999.
It was Gilchrist’s third 50-plus score in a row in a World Cup final. He had made 54 (36 balls) against Pakistan at Lord’s in 1999 and 57 (48 balls) against India in Johannesburg in 2003.
In all, four three-figure scores have come from wicketkeepers in World Cups — Gilchrist (149), Dravid (145), Zimbabweans Dave Houghton (142) and Andy Flower (115 ..). Of these, three have come against the Lankans, while Houghton’s came against New Zealand.
Gilchrist’s 100 came in 72 balls — the second quickest in any World Cup match after teammate Hayden’s 66-ball hundred against South Africa in St Kitts. His knock, however, was the fastest-ever in a World Cup final. West Indian Clive Lloyd (102) reached his century in 82 balls against Australia at Lord’s
On 111, Gilchrist became the 11th batsman (and second Australian after Ponting, 10395 runs) to reach 9000 runs in ODIs. His career tally of 9038 makes him the 10th highest run-getter in ODI history.
Gilchrist also reached 1000 runs, becoming the 12th batsman to achieve this.
Gilchrist’s eight sixes in the final equalled the World Cup record of most sixes in a single innings, held jointly by Ponting (vs India in the 2003 final) and Pakistani Imran Nazir (vs Zimbabwe in 2007).
Behind the stumps, Gilchrist claimed his 50th World Cup dismissal to become the first ’keeper to do so. He now has 52 dismissals (45 catches, seven stumpings) in 31 matches.
He also equalled Moin Khan’s World Cup stumping tally of seven, when he had Malinga.
Shane Watson, with 1001 runs (65 matches), became the 28th Aussie to aggregate 1000 runs in ODIs. He also became the 10th Australian allrounder to achieve 1000 runs and 50 wickets in ODIs. He had achieved his 50-wicket feat in his 62nd ODI appearance.
Sanath Jayasuriya (12005 runs in 390 matches) became the second batsman after Sachin Tendulkar (14847 in 384) to aggregate 12000 runs in ODIs.
This match provided only thesecond instance of two ’keepers from either side scoring a 50-plus score in the same World Cup match. The only other instance came at Lord’s in 1999 when Sri Lanka’s Romesh Kaluwitharana (57) and England’s Alec Stewart (88) made 50-plus scores.
Glenn McGrath’s tally of 26 wickets in 11 matches is now the highest by any bowler in a single World Cup, while his 71 wickets in 39 matches is also the most by any bowler in World Cups.
Both Ponting and McGrath have now become the most capped World Cup players with 39 matches each. They eclipsed Pakistan’s Wasim Akram (38 matches).
Gilchrist, Ponting and McGrath became the only players who have now appeared in three successful Cup-winning teams.
Ponting (2003 and 2007) did a Clive Lloyd (1975 and 1979) by leading his side to World Cup titles on two occasions. This was Australia’s fourth title (1987, 1999, 2003, 2007), the most by any team.
