This time, it was different. This time, they had to fight for it.

Over the last eight years, Australia had blown Pakistan away for 132 at Lord’s, punished India for 359 at Wanderers, bundled out West Indies for 138 at Brabourne, and hammered Sri Lanka for 281 in 38 overs at the Kensington Oval.

But as Shane Watson tried to hold back the tears on Monday night, it was clear that what his team had managed to pull off wasn’t just another one-day title in their long list of triumphs. They remained undefeated during the Champions Trophy, but this had been a whole new experience for a team who are no longer the dominant force in world cricket.

When Watson discussed his resurgence as a match-winner, captain Ricky Ponting, sitting next to him, couldn’t help but bring up Australia’s record as a big-game hunter. “How many games have we lost in the last couple of World Cups and Champions Trophies? One game,” he said.

This victory, however, wasn’t about an Australia in which Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist opened the batting, and Glenn McGrath opened the bowling. It was about an Australia made up of Tim Paine and Callum Ferguson, James Hopes and Cameron White, Peter Siddle and Nathan Hauritz; about an Australia still coming to terms with the gap left by a spate of superstar retirements.

Unlike the Australia of old, this team did not have players made for every situation; they had to discover them over the course of the fortnight.

... contd.