In the build-up to the 2019 World Cup, Cricbuzz is publishing an eleven-part series to reminisce every bygone edition. In this ninth instalment, middle-order mainstay Michael Hussey, a victorious member of the 2007 World Cup, talks about his side's ruthless campaign, celebrating the win in the final twice, Adam Gilchrist's heroic innings and more.
ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP
World Cup 2007: A dominant champion like no other
With the 2007 title, Australia made it a hat-trick of World Cup wins, stamping their authority on that era of the sport © Getty
Four years after mauling India in the 2003 World Cup final, Australia returned older, wiser and stronger to take their domination to another level, winning all 11 games to clinch the trophy for a record third time. All of which belied some concerns going into the tournament, which arose when they were whitewashed 3-0 in New Zealand just one month before the World Cup started...
Michael Hussey: It was pretty much a second string team (in New Zealand). Yes, we were disappointed to lose but still played pretty decent cricket over there. We knew we were going to get some big name players back into the team. Once we arrived in the West Indies for the World Cup, we were a little bit on the edge. So we made sure we went in as hard as we could in the practice games.
I remember one against England in particular we played really well. Everyone was playing as close to their best as they possibly could. We really hit the ground running in the tournament. Obviously the games against Scotland and the Netherlands we were expected to win but we still had to go out and do the job. But our confidence had already been sort of built up by the lead-up games.
After beating both Scotland and the Netherlands by more than 200 runs, Australia came up against South Africa in their final group game. This was their first meeting after the famous 438-run chase the year before, and for a brief period it looked like history might repeat itself with South Africa cruising towards a target of 378.
Hussey: We had a great rivalry against them. We obviously had good wins against lower teams but this was our chance against a proper top flight team just to see where we were at. It was a fantastic