Men's Cricket World Cup 2007 – Overview
Dates: 14 March to 28 April 2007
Location: West Indies
Number of teams: 16 – Bermuda and Ireland featured in a World Cup for the first time
Overs per innings: 50
Number of matches: 51
Format: Teams divided into four groups of four teams each. The top two from each pool progressed to the Super Eights – a round-robin phase. The top four from Super Eights made it to the semi-finals.
Semi-finals: Sri Lanka took on New Zealand in Kingston, and captain Mahela Jayawardena led from the front with a knock of 115 from 109 balls. Upul Tharanga too contributed 73 as Sri Lanka posted 289/5. Muttiah Muralitharan (4/31) then spun webs around the New Zealand batsmen to bowl them out for 208.
CWC Greatest Moments - A Mahela masterclass in 2007
Shaun Tait rattled South Africa with pace, taking 4/39 to help bowl them out for 149. Glenn McGrath also played a key role with returns of 3/18. Michael Clarke then scored 60* to lead a comfortable chase as Australia won by seven wickets.
Finals: Adam Gilchrist, who had been below-par until then, cracked 149 from 104 balls, batting with a squash ball in his glove to help his technique and powering Australia to 281/4 in 38 overs in a rain-shortened affair. Chasing a revised target of 269 from 36 overs, Sri Lanka were only able to post 215/8.
CWC Greatest Moments - Gilchrist squashes Sri Lanka in 2007
Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara had raised hopes with a 116-run stand for the second wicket, but they couldn't prevent Australia from securing their third consecutive World Cup trophy.
Top run-scorer: Matthew Hayden – 659 runs
Top wicket-taker and Player of the Series: Glenn McGrath – 26 wickets
Retirements: Glenn McGrath, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Craig McMillan
World Cup song: The Game of Love and Unity by Shaggy, Rupee and Fay-Ann Lyons