Sri Lanka lose toss and fields in cricket World Cup final

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, April 28, 2007 (AFP) - Australia captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bat against Sri Lanka in the World Cup final at Kensington Oval here Saturday.

Rain delayed the scheduled 09.30am local (1330GMT) start time but with the match due to get underway at 10.

15am (1415GMT) the game remained a 50 overs per side contest.

Australia were bidding for a third straight title and fourth in all, both unprecedented achievements in the nine-edition history of the World Cup.

They came into this match on the back of a record run of 28 games unbeaten in World Cup cricket, including 22 straight wins.

Australia were unchanged from the side that beat South Africa by seven wickets in Wednesday's semi-final in St Lucia.

This match was fast bowler Glenn McGrath's last before retirement. The 37-year-old was appearing in his fourth successive World Cup final, having also been on the losing side when Sri Lanka beat Australia in 1996.

Ahead of the Final, he had 70 World Cup wickets; his 25 to date in the 2007 edition was already a record for a single event.

Sri Lanka, whose team contained three survivors from the side that won the World Cup 11 years a