Cricket World Cup: 5 times when favourites won the title

The ultimate dream for any International cricketer is to win the World Cup. Since its inception in 1975, there have been as many as 11 editions of the tournament, the last being in 2015.

Prior to the tournament, some teams are labelled as favourites to win the title. It is based upon the team's recent form, playing conditions and the balance in the team.

It certainly never guarantees the team emerging victorious in the tournament but it always inspires some great confidence in the team ahead of the multinational tournament.

It is not always sure of favourites winning the title every given time. The history is filled with numerous cases of the favourites succumbing under the pressure of the tag and suffering agonising defeats.

However, there are few instances too when the pre-tournament favourites lived up to the expectations and lifted the trophy.

In this list, we will have a look at 5 such instances of the favourites winning the World Cup title.

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#5 West Indies, 1975

West Indies won the inaugural World Cup in 1975

Given the powerhouse West Indies was in the 1970s and 1980s, West Indies were the overwhelming favourites in the inaugural edition itself and also in the subsequent two World Cups.

Living up to the expectations, West Indies topped up their group in the group that comprised of teams like Australia, Pakistan and, then an associate nation, Sri Lanka.

In the semi-final, West Indies met New Zealand. Cruising at 98-1 at one point of stage, New Zealand lost their last 9 wickets for 60 runs. West Indies chased the target of 159 in 40.1 overs to set a title clash with Australia.

In the finals, captain Clive Lloyd set the tone for West Indies as he smashed an 85-ball 102 to set a daunting 292 target for the Aussies.

Australian innings, which was marked by run-outs of 5 batsmen, fell short of the target by 17 runs as West Indies remained unbeaten throughout the tournament to win the inaugural World Cup.

#4 West Indies, 1979

West Indies successfully defended their title in 1979

In 1979, the defending champions began favourites again for the second successive time. The West Indies continued their unbeaten streak in World Cups and topped the group yet again.

In the semifinal match against Pakistan, the West Indian openers Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes set an opening partnership of 132. A late flourish from Vivian Richards, Captain Clive Lloyd, and Collis King saw West Indies finishing with 293.

In reply, Pakistan responded strongly. Losing the first wicket for a mere 10 run, Pakistan's Majid Khan and Zaheer Abbas stitched a 166 run partnership for the second wicket to keep Pakistan afloat.

However, failure from the other batsmen cost Pakistan the match as they fell short of the target by 43 runs.

In the final against England, West Indies began poorly losing four wickets for 99. However, a counter-attacking century from Sir Vivian Richards and a belligerent knock of 66 balls 86 by Collis King meant West Indies finished with 286.

In a tactical blunder, England's openers batted too slowly chasing 287. They batted out almost 40 overs while scoring only 132 with the run rate less than four. Other English batsmen perished in an attempt to up the ante as they got all out for 194 in 51 overs.

West Indies won the final by 92 runs and thus retained the trophy.

#3 Australia, 2007

Australia won the third consecutive World Cup Title in 2007

Then ranked no. 1 in the ODI rankings, Australia were undoubtedly the favourites to clinch the title for the third time in succession.

Emerging as the dominant team of the decade, Team Australia were dominant in every format and every aspect of the game.

They did not lose even a match in the 2003 edition and remained unbeaten in 2007 edition as well.

Contested in the Carribean islands for the first time and between 14 teams, Australia showed clinical performances throughout the tournament.

Such was their dominance that even top-ranked teams could not compete with them.

They demolished South Africa in the semifinal by bowling them all out for 149 while chased it with more than 18 overs to spare.

In a rain-curtailed final match against Sri Lanka, an Adam Gilchrist special saw Australia finishing with a massive 281-4 in 38 overs. Gilchrist scored a 104-ball 149.

Chasing the total was always going to be tough for the island nation against the likes of McGrath, Tait and Bracken. Barring Jayasuriya and Sangakkara, none other Sri Lankan batsmen showed intent to chase it as the Sri Lankan team could score only 215-8.

The Australian team completed a hat-trick of World Cup wins and became the only team to do so in World Cup history.

#2 India, 2011

India ended their 28-year World Cup wait on 2011

Being contested on the Asian soil for the first time after the 1996 edition, India was one of the favourites to clinch the title. But history had another say as no host country had won the World Cup even once.

India started very well as they hunted their old demon from 2007 World Cup, Bangladesh, by a massive 87 runs. They later went on to lose against South Africa after a worst batting collapse and tied a match against England after a toothless display of bowling.

However, teams like Netherland and Ireland made it easy for India to progress to the next stage.

As soon as India reached the knockouts, India uplifted their game. They defeated defending champions Australia in the quarter-final and arch-rivals Pakistan in the semis.

In the final against Sri Lanka, Mahela Jayawardane's ton propelled Sri Lanka to post a competitive 274. Chasing 275, India had the poorest of a start as they lost both their openers at the score of 18.

Gautam Gambhir along with Virat Kohli led the rebuilding process before an MS Dhoni special saw India lifting the trophy after a long 28 years.

India became the third country to win the World Cup title more than once and became the first team to win the title at the home soil.

#1 Australia, 2015

Australia won their fifth title in 2015

Australia was on the top form prior to the tournament and was ranked first in the ODI rankings.

They had already run over India and England to win the tri-series ahead of the World Cup. The home conditions coalesced an added advantage as Australia were the pre-tournament favourites.

Australia was clinical right from the word go and lost just a match in the group stage against co-host New Zealand by a narrow 1-wicket margin.

In the quarter-final, they defeated Pakistan by 6 wickets.

After a nightmarish Australian summer, defending champions India managed to reach the semi-final of the World Cup where they met Australia who was eager to avenge their 2011 quarterfinal loss.

Steve Smith and Aaron Finch guided Australia to 328-7 chasing which India could manage only 233.

In a Trans-Tasman final, Australia ripped off New Zealand's batting order as they got out for a paltry 183 in their maiden final appearance.

Australia chased the target with 7 wickets and more than 16 overs to spare thus living up to the favourites tag.

Australia won the World Cup title for a record fifth time and became the most successful team in the World Cup history.