The 2003 Cricket World Cup Final was a One Day International (ODI) match played on 23 March 2003 at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.

Kenya, by virtue of its ODI status, automatically qualified for the tournament; Canada, Namibia and Netherlands—the top three teams of the 2001 ICC Trophy—formed the rest.

The top four teams from the Super Sixes qualified for the semi-finals, and the winners of those matches contested the final.

[8] The Australian Cricket Board announced their squad for the World Cup on 31 December 2002, but several changes were made to the team before the tournament was completed.

[13][14] An ongoing dispute between the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Indian players over product endorsements ensured a delay in the announcement of a provisional squad for the World Cup.

[16] Sachin Tendulkar made into the final squad despite three ongoing injuries, including a major one on the ankle.

[17] Having won 15 out of their 18 ODIs leading up the start of the tournament, the defending champions Australia were deemed one of the favourites to reach the semi-finals.

They had won the competition once, in 1983, but had recently lost an ODI series against West Indies at home, and were defeated heavily in their tour of New Zealand.

[21] After they were dismissed for 125 runs against Australia and lost the match by nine wickets, angry fans in India burned effigies of the players; Mohammad Kaif's house and Rahul Dravid's car were vandalised.

Despite an initial collapse, their captain Sourav Ganguly (107 not out) and Yuvraj Singh (58 not out) ensured India's victory.

Srinath took four wickets as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 109, and India won the match by a margin of 183 runs.

[31] The first semi-final was played between Australia and Sri Lanka on 18 March at St. George's Park, Port Elizabeth.

[39][40] The Indian industrialist Vijay Mallya organised special flights, including a few chartered ones, to transport film actors, politicians and businessmen to Johannesburg;[41] most of these people supported India.

[42] The air tickets from Mumbai to Johannesburg were completely sold out immediately after India entered the Super Sixes stage.

[43] Although most journalists and analysts favoured Australia, former Pakistan captain Imran Khan believed India were favourites.

[44] On the eve of the match, which would be his 100th ODI as India's captain, Ganguly issued a statement saying his team were honoured to play the World Cup final.

[46] Australia's main concern was Tendulkar, the tournament's top-scorer, of whom the Indian fans had high expectations.

[51] Simon Wilde, writing for the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, said the venue was one of the "most bountiful" grounds for batsmen.

A short shower that morning forced the ground staff to blow dry air over the pitch.

When Ganguly turned to his spin bowlers as early as the tenth over, Gilchrist slowed his scoring rate.

[54] Just before the interruption, Ponting brought in Australia's spinners, Brad Hogg and Darren Lehmann to speed up the over rate.

[2] Fall of wickets: 1/105 (Gilchrist, 13.6 ov), 2/125 (Hayden, 19.5 ov) overs) Fall of wickets: 4/1 (Tendulkar, 0.5), 58/2 (Ganguly, 9.5), 59/3 (Kaif, 10.3), 147/4 (Sehwag, 23.5), 187/5 (Dravid, 31.5), 208/6 (Yuvraj, 34.5), 209/7 (Mongia, 35.2), 223/8 (Harbhajan, 37.1), 226/9 (Srinath, 38.2), 234/10 (Zaheer, 39.2) Key Australia became the first team to win three World Cups,[54] and registered a record 17 consecutive ODI wins.

[62] Writing for the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, Simon Wilde remarked that Australia would have beaten a Rest of the World XI had they been asked.

[12] At the post-match press conference, Ponting said the Indian players showed no signs of winning the match at any point in time.

[63] Ganguly's decision to bowl first was criticised by the media: The New York Times, for instance, said it "backfired horribly".

[60][64] Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan, while denouncing Ganguly's decision, also criticised his idea of going into the match with an unchanged side.

[65] The journalist and former England cricketer Mike Selvey believed Ganguly may have been influenced by the possibility of the Duckworth–Lewis method affecting the result.

[66] Indian journalist Boria Majumdar in his book, Cricketing Cultures in Conflict (2004), remarked about the possibility of Australia losing the rain-interrupted final, if the result were to be decided by this method.

[67] Ganguly defended his decision, saying the overcast conditions and moisture in the pitch meant it was favourable to the bowlers, but they failed to use it properly.

[68] His teammate Symonds, in an interview later, recalled that India's decision to bowl first gave them an impression that they were not "confident enough to take the fight".