Summary
Australia remained unchanged from the side that played the semi-final, while New Zealand brought Jeetan Patel in place of injured captain Daniel Vettori. [7]
New Zealand's new captain Brendon McCullum won the toss and elected to bat first. They had a poor start as McCullum was cheaply dismissed by Siddle. Redmond's 26 and Guptill's 40 runs contribution stabilized the innings but later they were dismissed by Hauritz, leaving them on 77 off 3. Soon, Taylor and Elliott were also dismissed early, but Broom's 37, Franklin's 33 and J. Patel's 16* led them to an average total of 200 runs for 9 wickets in 50 overs. [8] Hauritz was the best bowler for Australia as he picked up 3 wickets, while Brett Lee got 2 wickets. Johnson and Siddle got 1 wicket each.
Australia, in reply had a poor start to the chase as they lost Paine and Ponting early leaving them on 6 off 2, thanks to good bowling display by Shane Bond and Kyle Mills. As Shane Watson and Cameron White were playing in a "Test match-mode" but later the momentum shifted as they managed a partnership of 128 runs before the dismissal of White on 62. Soon, Hussey was cheaply dismissed by Mills leaving them on 156 off 4. Later, Hopes joined Watson and they managed to stabilize the innings. Watson scored 105* from 129 balls, thanks to his back-to-back sixes, he completed his century and achieved the target in 45.4 overs, as Australia won the match by 6 wickets. [8] This was the second consecutive occasion for Watson earning man of the match award in the final of ICC Champions Trophy. It was Australia's fifth consecutive win after becoming finalists in multi-team tournaments since 1999. [9] [10] [1]
During the post-match presentation, the iconic white jackets were given for the first time to Australia, who were the winners of the tournament and this tradition has been continued in later editions. [11] [12]
- New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat.
