Three-Peat for Oz in Cricket World Cup

Adam Gilchrist's innings of sheer greatness lifted Australia to an unprecedented third consecutive World Cup, but the 53-run victory over Sri Lanka was sealed in complete darkness in a farcical finish to a tournament that has taken organisational mayhem to new levels.

The Australians thought they had won the Cup when bad light was called at 7-206 in Sri Lanka's runchase. They jumped all over each other in celebration and Glenn McGrath extracted a stump to commemorate the perfect finish to his career.

The umpires Aleem Dar and Steve Bucknor seemed to indicate the game was not over, and as darkness engulfed Kensington Oval the Australians reluctantly resumed their places and the Sri Lankan batsmen were recalled.

Tiny floodlights were switched on, then switched off again, and the ground staff had to replace the markers for the 30-yard circle.