# 2015 Cricket World Cup knockout stage

The knockout stage of the 2015 Cricket World Cup, following the group stage, was held from 18 to 29 March 2015. The top four teams from Pool A and Pool B advanced to the knockout stage to compete in a single-elimination style tournament. If a quarter-final or semi-final ended as a tie or no result, then the team which was placed higher in the group stages would have qualified. If the final ended in a tie, the match would have been decided by a one-over eliminator.
Of the eight teams entering the stage, the team finishing first on Pool A played the team finishing fourth in Pool B while the team finishing second in Pool A played the team finishing third in Pool B and so on, in the format A1 v B4, A2 v B3, A3 v B2 and A4 v B1. Hosts Australia and New Zealand had home advantage for the quarter-final and semi-final matches that they qualified for.
New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh qualified for this stage from Pool A, while India, South Africa, Pakistan and West Indies qualified from Pool B.
New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and India qualified for the semi-finals by beating West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh respectively. In the semi-finals, New Zealand beat South Africa and Australia beat India to qualify for the finals.

## Tournament bracket

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| A3 | Sri Lanka | 133 | | | | | | |
| B2 | South Africa | 134/1 | | | | | | |
| B2 | South Africa | 134/1 | B2 | South Africa | 281/5 | | | |
| | | | A1 | New Zealand | 299/6 | | | |
| A1 | New Zealand | 393/6 | A1 | New Zealand | 299/6 | | | |
| B4 | West Indies | 250 | | | | | | |
| B4 | West Indies | 250 | | | | A1 | New Zealand | 183 |
| | | | | | | A2 | Australia | 186/3 |
| B3 | Pakistan | 213 | | | | | | | A2 | Australia | 186/3 |
| A2 | Australia | 216/4 | | | | | | |
| A2 | Australia | 216/4 | A2 | Australia | 328/7 | | | |
| | | | B1 | India | 233 | | | |
| B1 | India | 302/6 | B1 | India | 233 | | | |
| A4 | Bangladesh | 193 | | | | | | |

## Matches
### Quarter-finals
#### South Africa v Sri Lanka

* 18 March 14:30 (AEDT) (D/N) Scorecard
| Sri Lanka 133 (37.2 overs) | v | South Africa 134/1 (18 overs) |
| Kumar Sangakkara 45 (96) Imran Tahir 4/26 (8.2 overs) | | Quinton de Kock 78* (57) Lasith Malinga 1/43 (6 overs) |
* South Africa won by 9 wickets Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Umpires: Nigel Llong (Eng) and Rod Tucker (Aus) Player of the match: Imran Tahir (SA)
* Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat.
* JP Duminy (SA) became the first South African to take a World Cup hat-trick when he dismissed Angelo Mathews, Nuwan Kulasekara and Tharindu Kaushal, and only the second South African in ODI history.
* This was South Africa's first win in the knockout stage of a World Cup.
* This was the shortest ever World Cup knockout match.
* This was the last ODI game for Kumar Sangakkara (SL) and Mahela Jayawardene (SL) and their 150th game together.

#### India v Bangladesh

* 19 March 14:30 (AEDT) (D/N) Scorecard
| India 302/6 (50 overs) | v | Bangladesh 193 (45 overs) |
| Rohit Sharma 137 (126) Taskin Ahmed 3/69 (10 overs) | | Nasir Hossain 35 (34) Umesh Yadav 4/31 (9 overs) |
* India won by 109 runs Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pak) and Ian Gould (Eng) Player of the match: Rohit Sharma (Ind)
* India won the toss and elected to bat.
* This was MS Dhoni's 100th ODI win as India captain.
* This was a record seventh consecutive match in which India bowled the opposition out.
* The umpires received widespread criticism after some controversial decision-making. International Cricket Council President Mustafa Kamal said that Bangladesh would appeal against the decisions of the umpires in ICC's board meeting.
* Mashrafe Mortaza (Ban) was suspended for one ODI, and fined 40% of his match fee for a slow over rate; the other Bangladesh players were fined 20% of their match fee.

#### Australia v Pakistan

* 20 March 14:00 (ACDT) (D/N) Scorecard
| Pakistan 213 (49.5 overs) | v | Australia 216/4 (33.5 overs) |
| Haris Sohail 41 (57) Josh Hazlewood 4/35 (10 overs) | | Steve Smith 65 (69) Wahab Riaz 2/54 (9 overs) |
* Australia won by 6 wickets Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SL) and Marais Erasmus (SA) Player of the match: Josh Hazlewood (Aus)
* Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.
* This was the last ODI for Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq (both Pak).
* Wahab Riaz (Pak) was fined 50% of his match fee, and Shane Watson (Aus) was fined 15% of his match fee, after a verbal encounter at the end of the 33rd over.

#### New Zealand v West Indies

* 21 March 14:00 (NZDT) (D/N) Scorecard
| New Zealand 393/6 (50 overs) | v | West Indies 250 (30.3 overs) |
| Martin Guptill 237* (163) Jerome Taylor 3/71 (7 overs) | | Chris Gayle 61 (33) Trent Boult 4/44 (10 overs) |
* New Zealand won by 143 runs Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington Umpires: Richard Kettleborough (Eng) and Bruce Oxenford (Aus) Player of the match: Martin Guptill (NZ)
* New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat.
* Martin Guptill became the first player to score two consecutive centuries for New Zealand in a World Cup.
* Guptill also scored the first ever double-hundred in a World Cup knockout match, and the first double-hundred by a New Zealand player in an ODI.
* Guptill's score of 237* is the highest individual score in a World Cup match and second highest in ODIs.
* The match had the most sixes hit in a World Cup match (31) and the second highest number of sixes in any ODI match.

### Semi-finals
#### New Zealand v South Africa

* 24 March 14:00 (NZDT) (D/N) Scorecard
| South Africa 281/5 (43 overs) | v | New Zealand 299/6 (42.5 overs) |
| Faf du Plessis 82 (107) Corey Anderson 3/72 (6 overs) | | Grant Elliott 84* (73) Morne Morkel 3/59 (9 overs) |
* New Zealand won by 4 wickets (D/L method) Eden Park, Auckland Umpires: Ian Gould (Eng) and Rod Tucker (Aus) Player of the match: Grant Elliott (NZ)
* South Africa won the toss and elected to bat.
* Match reduced to 43 overs per side and New Zealand's target revised to 298 due to rain.
* This was the highest successful run-chase in a World Cup knockout match.
* This was the first time New Zealand qualified for a World Cup final.
* This was South Africa's fourth semi-final loss in World Cups.

#### Australia v India

* 26 March 14:30 (AEDT) (D/N) Scorecard
| Australia 328/7 (50 overs) | v | India 233 (46.5 overs) |
| Steve Smith 105 (93) Umesh Yadav 4/72 (9 overs) | | MS Dhoni 65 (65) James Faulkner 3/59 (9 overs) |
* Australia won by 95 runs Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SL) and Richard Kettleborough (Eng) Player of the match: Steve Smith (Aus)
* Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
* Australia qualified for the World Cup final for a record seventh time.
* Australia's total of 328/7 is the highest score in a World Cup semi-final.
* As a result of this match, no Asian team qualified for World Cup final, for the first time since 1987.

### Final

* 29 March 2015 14:30 (D/N) Scorecard
| New Zealand 183 (45 overs) | v | Australia 186/3 (33.1 overs) |
| Grant Elliott 83 (82) Mitchell Johnson 3/30 (9 overs) | | Michael Clarke 74 (72) Matt Henry 2/46 (9.1 overs) |
* Australia won by 7 wickets Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Attendance: 93,013 Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SL) and Richard Kettleborough (Eng) Player of the match: James Faulkner (Aus)
* New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat.
* Australia won the Cricket World Cup for the fifth time.
* This was the last ODI played by Michael Clarke (Aus), Brad Haddin (Aus), Daniel Vettori (NZ) and Mitchell Johnson (Aus).
* The crowd of 93,013 was the largest in the history of cricket in Australia, beating the previous record of 91,112 for a Test match on 26 December 2013. The country's previous ODI record crowd was 87,182 for the 1992 final.