Australia were a side to reckon with in the cricketing world in the 2000s. The Kangaroos were dominating world cricket at that time, and it wasn’t an easy task for any team to defeat them irrespective of the conditions. At the turn of the century, Australia were the most consistent team in the ICC tournaments, winning three back-to-back ODI World Cup titles in 1999, 2003 and 2007 respectively, along with the Champions Trophy title in 2006. On October 5, 2009, Australia added another trophy to their cabinet after they won their second consecutive Champions Trophy title.
Coming in as defending champions, Australia were again favorites to win the ICC Champions Trophy in 2009. The Kangaroos remained unbeaten in the group stage, and went on to defeat arch rivals England by 9 wickets in the semi-final. After that, Australia were set to face Trans-Tasman neighbours New Zealand in the title clash at SuperSport Park in Centurion on October 5.
Shane Watson’s century guided Australia to the ICC Champions Trophy 2009 title
After losing the toss, Australia was asked to bowl first by New Zealand in the 2009 Champions Trophy final. However the Black Caps didn’t have great start as they lost their skipper Brendon McCullum for a duck when their score was five runs in 3.2 overs. After the fall of the first wicket, Aaron Redmond and Martin Guptill added 61 runs for the second wicket Redmond got out after scoring 26(45) runs, while Guptill top scored for New Zealand with 40 runs off 64 balls. Apart from that, none of the batter could play a big knock as New Zealand could only post 200/9 after the end of 50 overs.
Chasing the winning total, Australia also had a poor start losing two wickets for just six runs with Tim Paine and skipper Ricky Ponting going back to the pavilion. However, it was Shane Watson who took charge of the innings, and went on to score a match-winning hundred as Australia didn’t let early breakthroughs put them under pressure in a big final. He was ably supported by Cameron Green who scored 62(102) runs. Watson remained unbeaten on 105*(129) runs as Australia chased the target in 45.2 overs losing four wickets to clinch their second consecutive Champions Trophy title in 2009.
