Australia ended India’s unbeaten record in the final at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, claiming an unprecedented sixth World Cup victory.
Australia raced to a record-extending sixth global title in the summit showdown at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday, putting an end to India’s sturdy and unbeaten run at the world Cup 2023. Travis Head’s fifth ODI century and a tough fifty from Marnus Labuschagne dashed India’s dreams as Australia chased down 241 to win by six wickets and shatter a billion Indian hearts as their agonisingly long search for an ICC trophy continues. With the victory, Pat Cummins joined Allan Border, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, and Michael Clarke in an illustrious sequence of Australian World Cup captains.
Travis Head,
who ignored the first four games of this World Cup 2023 due to a broken finger, was out on 137 when Australia needed just two more runs to win. Regardless of missing the winning runs, Travis got the third Australian batter to hit a century in a World Cup final, combining Ricky Ponting and Adam Gil Christ. Head genuinely went into Ponting-like beast mode at the end, earning the fourth-highest individual score in a World Cup final, after Gilchrist’s 149 in 2007, Ponting’s 140, and Viv Richards’ 138.
Australia’s chase
The start of chase was hampered by India’s new-ball bowling pair of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, who paired to dismiss David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, and Steve Smith with only 47 on the board, but from there, Head and Labuschagne forged a 192-run partnership, making the chase look easier than many expected. The same surface that Australia strangled India on, allowing only four boundaries in 40 overs, gave up in the second innings. The ball was coming on well to the bat, and Labuschagne and Head were able to neutralize the spin threats of Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav.
Also Read: India vs Australia World Cup 2023 Final, Highlights
Team India’s luck
started to fall apart with the first ball of the second innings, when a thick edge of David Warner soared between second and third slip, with neither Virat Kohli nor Shubman Gill attempting to go for the catch. After scoring 28 off the first two overs, Shami, bowling ahead of Siraj, had Warner caught behind, and the crowd broke out three overs later when Bumrah got Marsh. The former Australia captain accidentally boosted India’s chase of a wicket when he did not accept a DRS after being given out when the ball struck outside off.
Previously, India led
at 47/3. Shami forced Head to play and miss several times, but once the Australia opener defeated the tournament’s best wicket-taker, the floodgates flowed. Both teams were at 126/3 at the conclusion of the 24th over, but where India struggled to hit boundaries, Australia scored them at ease. Bumrah, who was supposed to break the partnership, returned for his second stint in the 28th over and was out for 14. The writing was clear on the wall.
Since when they won the toss, Australia never put a foot wrong. Cummins, who read the conditions perfectly, did not hesitate to bowl first. Rohit Sharma did his thing, racing to 47 off 40 balls, but the combined errors of the team were disastrous.
A situation between Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer was unexpected in India. At 81/3, Kohli and KL Rahul ran into hiding as Australia bowled them out. The two batted as if it were a Day 5 surface of a Test match in India. Australia batted on it as if it were a bright, beautiful afternoon session in Adelaide on Day 1.
Kohli and Rahul batted with dropping out, but both died just when it came time for them to go. Kohli took a slower bouncer from Cummins, and Rahul nicked Mitchell Starc in full glory, turning the ball. India’s final chance was Jadeja and Suryakumar Yadav, but Australia had done their study on them. Josh Hazlewood used the region outside off stump to his advantage against Ravindra Jadeja, and it paid off with the all-rounder nicking to Josh Inglis. Surya, on the other hand, was bowled at full speed by the Australian pacers as India limped to a score that was easily mowed down.