What a journey Australia have made through the ODI World Cup 2023! Having lost their first two games in a row, Australia are now the champions of the World. No matter how their form goes, once they enter the World Cup, they are completely a different team.
The Aussie’s dominance continues in the ODI World Cup. They have never lost a World Cup final before. And today, they secured their sixth World Cup trophy in India. The Aussies have defeated the host, India, in the World Cup final by six wickets at Narendra Modi Stadium in front of a hundred thousand Indian fans.
As it happened
Pat Cummins, the captain of Australia, won the toss and surprisingly decided to bowl first in the final. So, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill stepped into the crease to start India’s batting innings. India captain Rohit Sharma gave glimpses of an aggressive start. But Shubman Gill failed to stay long on the crease.
Aussie pacer Mitchell Starc drew the first blood as he picked up Shubman Gill in the 4.2 over. After that, Rohit tried to build a partnership with Virat Kohli. They were also looking good, making a partnership of 46 runs. But Glenn Maxwell put Australia back into the game when he picked up Rohit Sharma in the 9.4 over. Shreyas Iyer, the following batsman, also failed to contribute enough.
However, Virat Kohli, who is the most consistent performer for India, fought hard and built a partnership with KL Rahul. The two batters added 67 runs on the scoreboard and were looking good. But the Aussie captain got the most crucial wicket as he bowled out Virat Kohli in the 28.3 over. Kohli scored another half-century, 54, before leaving the crease.
After the departure of Kohli, Australia took control of the match. Due to their strict bowling, India kept losing wickets. But KL Rahul scored the highest 66 runs for the team, which helped India post a total of 240 runs. Mitchell Starc got three wickets for Australia, while Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins picked up two wickets each.
Chasing the target, Australia were also under tremendous pressure. They lost three wickets in just 47 runs. India, at that point, had full control of the match after taking the wickets of David Warner, Steven Smith, and Mitchell Marsh. But Travis Head played a crucial role for Australia in the final. He was very carefully picking up runs with Marnus Labuschagne.
The two batters took all the responsibilities of Australia and were heading towards the target.
From 47 to 239, they made a fantastic partnership of 192 runs, which took Australia close to winning. However, Travis Head’s heroic innings ended with his unbelievable 137 runs. Meanwhile, Marnus Labuschagne remained unbeaten with 58 runs. In the end, Australia won the final of the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup by six wickets with 42 balls in their hands.
