CWC 2023, Final, India vs Australia: Travis Head’s 137, Pat Cummins’ 2-32 and Mitchell Starc’s 3-55 are top performances. Australia beat India and won 6th World Cup title.
Brief Scores: Australia 241/4 (Head 139, Marnus 58*, Bumrah 2/43) beat India 240 (KL Rahul 66, Kohli 54, Starc 3/55) by 6 wickets.
Player Of The Match: Travis Head (137 off 120 balls)
Australia stormed home to a 6-wicket win against India in CWC 2023 Final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and clinched their record 6th World title.
In the game, Australia had won their only head-to-head in a World Cup final in 2003. Touted as a revenge game for India, Australia skipper Pat Cummins opted to field first on a slow Ahmedabad surface, with teams retaining the same playing XI.
Talking Point from Australia vs India CWC 2023 Final
Australia showed the cricketing world why they are the most successful team by producing their best-ever performance on the night of the final. Their fielding was top-notch, saving at least 30-40 runs.
Put into bat, India skipper Rohit Sharma was off to a rollicking start and didn’t change his approach for this all-important game. Gill departed early, but Rohit’s knock of 31-ball 47 propelled India’s total to 80/2 at the end of powerplays.
Despite fighting half-centuries from KL Rahul and Virat Kohli, it was all Australia in the next 40 overs as India batters combined to hit only 4 boundaries in that phase and scored 160 more runs.
Chasing a middling total of 241 to clinch their 6th World Cup title, Australia had a mixed as they started aggressively but lost 3 wickets in the powerplays. As India looked to make further inroads into this deep Australia batting line-up, Travis Head and Labuschagne held their own under pressure, forging a match-winning 4th wicket partnership. The duo added 192 runs, with Head smashing a sensational ton on this big night for Australia.
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Pat Cummins rises to the occasion on the big stage
Australia skipper Pat Cummins didn’t have the best of tournaments with the ball as he had picked only 13 wickets from the 10 games; he played at an average of just under 37.
However, on the night of the final Cummins showed his true class with the ball by producing a magical opening spell where he got rid of the in-form Shreyas Iyer and was highly economical. Just when India was looking set to score big with Virat Kohli at the crease, Cummins got the big wicket.
Besides his brilliant bowling spell on 2/34, Cummins was extremely intelligent with his field placing and bowing changes. This proved to be a detrimental factor in Australia, reducing India to 240.
Read More: CWC 2023, Semi-Final 1, IND vs NZ: Shami’s 7-57, Kohli & Iyer hundreds take India to fourth final
Travis Head dents India’s ICC Trophy hopes yet again
First, it was the World Test Championship Final against India. Travis Head made a century to clinch Australia the match, and now, yet again, on a tricky Ahmedabad wicket and chasing a total in this pressure situation, the left-hander once again played a blinder.
Though initially having issues with the moving ball under lights, Head overcame Australia’s top-order collapse to score a brilliant century in the final and shared that incredible partnership with Marnus Labuschagne.
Read More: CWC 2023, Semi-Final 2, SA vs AUS: SA lose another semi-final; Australia through to 8th final
Mitchell Starc proves why he is the best in the business
Like Cummins, Mitchell Starc didn’t have the best of World Cups until the knockouts. But come the big matches, the left-arm seamer and Aussie pace spearhead was at his best. After claiming 3 wickets in the Semi-final clash against South Africa, Starc has yet another great performance in the final game.
He first removed Gill in the powerplays and triggered the middle-order collapse by dismissing a well-set KL Rahul. He ended with 3/55 as one of the all-time greats in ODI World Cups.
Statistical highlights from Australia vs India, CWC 2023 Final
- Rohit Sharma had the best strike rate of 135.02 in the first powerplay (overs 1-10) in the Cricket World Cup 2023.
- Rohit Sharma has scored the most runs (597) as captain in a World Cup edition. He passed Kane Williamson (578), who registered this feat in 2019.
- Adam Zampa took 23 wickets in CWC 2023. He joins Muthiah Muralitharan (23 wickets in CWC 2007) with the most wickets as a spinner in a single CWC edition.
- Virat Kohli and KL Rahul join Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, and MS Dhoni as the India batters to score a half-century in the World Cup final game.
- Mohammad Shami is the highest wicket-taker in CWC 2023.
With this, the 13th edition of the Cricket World Cup concludes, with India still searching for an elusive ICC trophy. Australia’s trophy cabinet now becomes even richer with this incredible performance.
Read More: Australia peaking at the right time in CWC 2023: What has worked for them
Top Twitter Reactions from Australia vs India, CWC 2023 Final
Disheartened for sure but a top performing team outplayed us. Australia played exceptionally well today. Congratulations!
Team India played exceptionally well throughout 👏 Thank you for giving us so much joy. Proud of this lot and will always be!!#CWC23Final #IndvAusFinal— Robin Aiyuda Uthappa (@robbieuthappa) November 19, 2023
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