It was fitting farewell for Michael Clarke, who signed off from the ODIs with World Cup triumph, as Australia clinched the title for a record fifth time.
“Over the moon, what a tournament, Brendon and NZ deserve a lot of credit, always a tough team to beat, whenever we play them in any sport – so well done to Baz and his team, especially personally, he had an amazing performance,” Clarke said.
“Thanks to every Australian and cricket supporter out there who’ve been behind us,” he added. “The team and support staff, the support I’ve had since coming back into the team, they deserve to stand there with the trophy. Said we were ready mentally and we managed to get it all together physically.”
Mitchell Starc, meanwhile, was named the player of the tournament, after taking 22 wickets in the World Cup. Starc added that dismissing Brendon McCullum in the first over set the tone of the match.
“Amazing tournament, some outstanding performances but to cap it off,” Starc said. “NZ have set the standard all tournament but we led it home. I’ve worked really hard for a number of months now, a few series ago we sat down and to see it come to fruition it’s been phenomenal.”
“Little lucky, it was a plan Craig and I had but to see it executed,” he added. “Brendon’s been fantastic all tournament. The fans have been fantastic, to win in front of this many people, there’s nothing like it. Going to enjoy this one for now.”
