AHMEDABAD, INDIA - NOVEMBER 19: Pat Cummins of Australia lifts the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Trophy following the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup India 2023 Final between India and Australia at Narendra Modi Stadium on November 19, 2023 in Ahmedabad, India. (Photo by Matt Roberts-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
Australia claim sixth ICC Men’s Cricket ODI World Cup
Australia’s Men’s Cricket team proudly lifted their sixth ICC Men’s World Cup trophy, beating India by a whopping 6 wickets with over seven overs to spare. The match that took place in front of nearly 130,000 proud Indian fans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Gujarat did not disappoint, although leaving the majority sea of little blue clad Indian fans heartbroken, lost for words and virtually in tears.
Australia’s Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne clawed their way out of quicksand with a match winning 192 run 4th wicket stand, giving their nation and the rest in the World something to smile about, but most would say that Pat Cummins and his bowlers were equally responsible for Australia’s mighty triumph.
Except for the early collapse of Australia’s top order during their run chase, the scales always seemed to tip in favor of the men from down under.
It all began with Pat Cummins winning the toss early in the day, and electing to bowl, knowing full well that the pitch favored batters after the lights came on.
Australia’s opening bowlers did well to restrict the Indians from taking off early in the innings, much like they had done to most all their oppositions in the buildup to the finals.
By bowling perfectly crafted lines and lengths, Australia were able to snatch the early wickets of Shubman Gill, skipper Rohit Sharma and the dangerous Shreyas Iyer. Sharma did however put up a little bit of a fight, with his speedy 47, but it wasn’t enough to keep India’s head above water.
Australia’s precision and quick thinking hardly gave their opposition any room to breathe, purposely alternating between spin and pace to keep Virat Kohli on his toes at all times.
By picking up India’s top order in the opening ten overs, they put an insurmountable amount of pressure on India’s golden boy and watched as he crumbled under it, even though he reached a predictable but uncharacteristic half century by his very own standards.
With India struggling to keep their innings together, they were fortunate to find some relief in wicketkeeper K.L. Rahul’s stubborn 66 following the dismissal of Virat. Rahul’s effort propelled India’s score to an unimaginable total of 240, but hardly anyone considered it to be a big enough score to hold down the Australians on the biggest stage of them all.
However, it was surprising to see the likes of David Warner, Mitchell Marsh and Steven Smith falling victim to Jasprit Bumrah and Mohamed Shami’s new ball trickery, but this only bolstered Travis Head’s spirit, as he watched on in disbelief at the other end.
Nobody truly knows what Head would have said to Labuschagne, coming in at 3 down with 47 runs on the board, but whatever he whispered to Labuschagne, it got the job done.
Travis and Marnus sat through the rest of the needed runs, absolutely dominating the best that the Indian bowlers had to offer. The pair ran through 192 runs off 215 deliveries, with Travis Head doing most of the heavy lifting.
Head smacked and battered the kookaburra to all parts of the ground, picking his slots to perfection with no little fear in his eyes. Marnus Labuschagne on the other hand calmly played his role of anchor to perfection. Together the duo got Australia almost to the finish line, but rather unfortunately for Travis Head, he could not finish the race alongside Marnus.
Head was caught out 2 runs short of victory, trying to finish the game in typical Australian fashion with a six over midwicket. He took pleasure in knowing that Glenn Maxwell was walking in with the job almost done, as he had just single handedly gifted Australia their sixth World Title against all odds. Going up against an unbeaten and brute Indian team, was never going to be a walk in the park but the Australians proved to not only the 130,000 Bharati fans in the stadium, but also to the rest of the world, that they truly are the greatest team to have ever played the sport.
Regardless of their terrible start to the tournament or India’s plethora of achievements that played a psychological factor in the buildup to the finals, Australia defied all odds and took home the trophy for a record sixth time.
Despite this loss, India can take heart that they are still ranked as the number 1 team in ODI cricket, but for the next four years the Aussies can rightfully claim their status of being the defending World Cup champs.
Chief Scores:
India – 240 for 10 wickets in 50 overs (KL Rahul 66, Virat Kohli 54, Rohit Sharma 47, Mitchell Starc 3 for 55, Pat Cummins 2 for 34, Josh Hazlewood 2 for 60)
Australia – 241 for 4 wickets in 43 overs (Travis Head 137, Marnus Labuschagne 58*, Mitch Marsh 15, Jasprit Bumrah 2 for 43, Mohamed Siraj 1 for 45, Mohammed Shami 1 for 47)
