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Australia proved why they are considered the cricketing giants after crushing Team India's dreams of winning the ODI World Cup 2023 trophy. Australia, saved the best for the last, and delivered a phenomenal all-round show to beat India by six wickets in the World Cup 2023 final at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad on November 19, Sunday.
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Winning the toss and putting India to bat first augered well for Australia as they successfully managed to restrict the star-studded Indian side to a modest total of 240 despite Virat Kohli and KL Rahul's fifties. It was nothing short of a batting collapse for India who wilted under pressure yet again in the bigger stage. Mitchell Starc, with a brilliant three-fer, ripped through the Indian batting line-up and made them dance to his tunes. In reply, India did show a fightback approach by sending David Warner, Mitchell Marsh and Steve Smith to the pavilion cheaply. But whatever happened next completely took the game away from Rohit Sharma's brigade. Travis Head combined with Marnus Labuschagne to steering Australia from a precarious position of 47/3 to a commanding 239. While Head struck a robust 137 off 120, Labuschagne played a calculated knock of 58 runs to take Australia past the finishing line.
Meanwhile, Australia skipper Pat Cummins expressed his sentiments after beating India in the World Cup final.
“I think we saved our best for the last. A couple of big-match players stepped up and chuffed. Today we thought it was a good night to chase and thought it would be easier to chase. The pitch was slower than I thought and didn't particularly spin and we bowled tight lines. On a slow wicket with variable bounce, we had a couple of catchers on the leg side and made a couple of decisions. Desperate for sure. The boys were fantastic against South Africa. We have an ageing side but everyone throws themselves around. Chuffed with keeping them to 240 - anything under 300 really,” Cummins said in the post-match presentation.
Head and Labuschagne stitched a match-winning 192-run partnership for the fourth wicket, which decided the course of the match. Captain Cummins heaped immense praise on both the batters.
“I was one of those blokes with the hearts fluttering but Head takes the game on, Marnus... I think the selectors backed him even when he had a broken hand. It's a big risk and it paid off. How fun is he to watch? It was awesome to play and the passion in India is unrivaled. You just got to go and win a World Cup. You can't wait for it. It was a shift after two games. The openers were really aggressive and it was a total buy-in from everyone. We will remember this year for a long, long time. This pips it all,” Cummins concluded.
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