Australian captain Pat Cummins expected a one-sided crowd at Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad in the World Cup 2023 final. A sea of blue engulfed the whole stadium as the players walked out for the mega clash. First, when Cummins won the toss there was a moment of silence but later he let the ball do the talking to shun the crowd of one lakh and 30 thousand fans into silence.
"The crowd's obviously going to be very one-sided but it's also in sport there's nothing more satisfying than hearing a big crowd go silent and that's the aim for us tomorrow. Yeah, you've just got to embrace every part of it, every part of a final even you know in the lead-up there's going to be noise and more people and interest and you just can't get overwhelmed. You got to be up for it, you got to love it and just know whatever happens it's fine but you just want to finish the day with no regrets," Cummins had said in the pre-match press conference.
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On November 19, Cummins introduced himself in the ninth over of the innings. He kept Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli quiet with his variations in length and pace. In his next over, he made use of the pressure created by the wicket of Rohit. He bowled the perfect length to keep Shreyas Iyer confused whether to go forward or back. With minimal foot movement, he edged the ball to wicketkeeper Josh Inglis.
But it was the second wicket he got that had a massive impact on the game. He broke the partnership between Kohli and KL Rahul with the wicket of the former. In the 29th over of the innings, Cummins bowled a slower short-of-the-length delivery. Kohli was beaten by the pace and the inside edge crashed into the stumps. Kohli was left shocked by the delivery and the crowd went silent.
Kohli scored 54 runs from 63 balls. Cummins did not take another wicket in the match but kept Indian batters quiet as he conceded 34 runs from his full quota of 10 overs. He played a crucial role in restricting India's score to 240.
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