And the World Cup finally came to a conclusion with Australia bagging the coveted trophy for the fifth time in the tournament's history.
Australia grabbed a seven-wicket win over the first-time World Cup finalists, New Zealand, thanks to an impressive unbeaten 56 by young batsman Steven Smith and skipper Michael Clarke's brilliant 74 after their bowlers produced a fiery display to reduce Brendon McCullum's men to a paltry 183 in 45 overs.
Drubbing sub-continent rivals Pakistan and India in the knockout stages of the tournament Australia advanced to the final where they faced their trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand in what was expected to be a high-octane tie, which rather turned out to be a one sided affair for Clarke's men.
Opting to bat first, New Zealand's batting lineup stuttered early in the innings before Grant Elliott and Ross Taylor put up a fourth-wicket resilient 111-run stand to provide some ground for McCullum's team.
However, following the collapse of Taylor (40), the Australian bowlers exposed the rest of New Zealand's batting line-up with their pace attack as all-rounder Corey Anderson and wicketkeeper batsman Luke Ronchi were bowled out for their individual ducks while Daniel Vettori (9), Tim Southee (11) and Matt Henry (0) also failed to contribute substantially with the bat.
Big-hitting skipper McCullum also failed to shine with the bat, as his aggressive brand of cricket collapsed for a duck while facing Mitchell Starc.
Elliott continued his impressive form as he knocked his second consecutive half century with a solid 83-run knock off 82 deliveries, which helped New Zealand post the 184-run target for Australia to win.
Mitchell Johnson and James Faulkner were the pick of the bowlers for Australia as they scalped three wickets each in their spells while Starc and Glenn Maxwell also claimed two and one wickets respectively.
Australia recovered from a shaky start, after Aaron Finch was dismissed by Trent Boult for a duck, to win the match by seven wickets with 101 balls to spare, thanks to Clarke's 74-run knock and Smith's unbeaten 56.
Moreover, opener David Warner knocked 45 runs before he was sent back to the pavilion on Henry's delivery.
Faulkner was presented with the Man of the Match award by 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup ambassador Sachin Tendulkar for his match-winning performance for Australia.
Starc bagged the Player of the Tournament award for his impressive 22-wicket scalp in the tournament at an average of 10.18.
