World Cup 2015: All that glitters is Australia gold

Over the centuries, swansong has become synonymous with a final accomplishment. It signifies that the performer in question is mindful of the curtains coming down on his career. This, in turn, makes him conscious of his last bow and the effect it could have on his legacy. On Sunday, Michael Clarke was meandering through that zone.

Minutes after his three left-arm quicks (26-1-86-8) turned in a ruthlessly professional display to wrap up the New Zealand innings in 45 overs, the Australian skipper walked down the long, well-lit tunnel connecting the dressing room to the nets facility.

Faced with a target of 184 in 50 overs at an asking rate of 3.68, did Clarke really have to face throw-downs from a member of the support staff in public view during the 40-minute dinner break of his 245th ODI? Would his mates have really made heavy weather of the simplistic target like the West Indies did back in 1983?

Probably not. But Clarke did what he had to. He didn't want to leave anything to chance. Not in his final outing in yellow. Not at the MCG. And surely not in the World Cup final. Like the Bard put it, "It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves."

The outcome was fruitful. A little over two hours later, Clarke marshalled the boundary line like he owned it. Smiling, chuckling, clapping, high-fiving and joking, he waited for Steve Smith to do the honours. When the heir apparent pulled Matt Henry to the midwicket fence, Clarke watched the ball trickle past the boundary line. And when it finally did, he ran onto the field and embraced Smith and Shane Watson, already immersed in frenzied celebrations. And that's how Australia won their fifth World Cup at 9:05 pm local time in front of 93,013 fans, the highest-ever gathering at an ODI in Australia. That the contest was utterly one-sided didn't matter in the ultimate analysis.

If not for a harmless delivery from Henry, Clarke would have probably hit the winning runs himself. So breezy was his knock and so reassuring his presence was his 74, at better than a run a ball, that it ensured the final was over an hour and a quarter before the scheduled finish. It gave Australia the unique distinction of having won cricket's biggest prize on every continent that's livable and counts cricket as a sport — Asia in 1987, Europe in 1999, Africa in 2003, North America in 2007 and, now, at home in 2015. Phew!

Clarke's stay in the middle was an extension of the 204 fruitful minutes Australia fielded to put the high-flying Kiwis in their place. His farewell dig turned out to be a strokeful innings replete with 10 fours, most of them sweetly timed, and an elegant straight six.

But the credit for the seven-wicket victory, achieved with a whopping 101 deliveries to spare, has to go to the two Mitchells — Starc (2/20), Johnson (3/30) — and James Faulkner (3/36). Each of them dumped the tournament's 'pitch it short' strategy and opted for the good-old fashioned full-length deliveries, especially the yorker. If Player of the Tournament Starc got half the job done by removing Brendon McCullum in the first over, then Johnson was all pace and focus throughout his nine overs. But it was Faulkner, the slowest and least threatening of the lot, who ran away with the Man of the Match award. By picking up two wickets in the first three balls of the batting powerplay, Faulkner broke New Zealand's only meaningful partnership and, with it their collective backs.

The 111-run for the fourth wicket between Ross Taylor (40) and Grant Elliott (83) saved the first-time finalists from embarrassment more than anything else. Faulkner, who had Taylor caught behind off a leg-cutter with Brad Haddin taking a superb one-hander, did one better by clean-bowling Corey Anderson for a second-ball duck. At 150/5, there wasn't much New Zealand could do even though the free-flowing Elliott looked like he was carrying on from where he left in Auckland. There were no miracles. The Kiwis lost their last five wickets for 32 runs.

When Australia lost Aaron Finch, caught and bowled by Trent Boult, in the second over, the Australian half (OK, four-fifth) of the crowd gaped in wonder. They would have been reduced to 26/2 had McCullum not removed the second slip. But Warner took that chance, and a third consecutive boundary, to leave Tim Southee stranded. Warner (45) and Smith (56 not out) added 61 in quick time before Henry had the former caught off a mistimed pull.
The remainder of the evening belonged to Smith, Clarke, their 112-run stand and, of course, Phil Hughes, to whom the victory was dedicated. As ICC chairman N Srinivasan, booed nevertheless, handed over the trophy to Michael Clarke, World Cup ambassador Sachin Tendulkar watched from just a few metres away. He knew exactly how the Aussies were feeling. Ah, Mumbai to Melbourne! Over to England 2019.