Australia defeated India, the tournament’s top side, six wickets to one in the final on Sunday, thanks to opener Travis Head’s incredible century. This was Australia’s record-tying sixth 50-overs World Cup victory.
After being put to bat, India amassed a respectable 240 all out in precisely 50 overs at a crowded Narendra Modi Stadium thanks to valiant half-centuries by KL Rahul and Virat Kohli.
In a contest that never really got off the ground, Australia’s top order struggled, but Head’s 137 from 120 balls let them cruise home with seven overs remaining.
In the crucial summit match, the home side, which had won 10 straight games to advance to the final, lost for the first time this tournament, leaving the bulk of the 132,000 spectators in stunned silence.
With Head, Marnus Labuschagne had a match-winning partnership of 192. “What we’ve achieved today is unbelievable,” a tearful-eyed Labuschagne stated. “It’s the finest accomplishment I’ve ever had a hand in.”
“India have been the team of the tournament, but you knew if you play your best cricket, you have a chance.”
Earlier, many were perplexed by Pat Cummins’s decision to field, which was mostly made to avoid using a damp ball in the dark, but Australian bowlers, supported by some excellent fielding, stifled their opposition.
Despite Shubman Gill’s early loss, India skipper Rohit Sharma continued to play game-changing performances in their batting formula throughout the tournament, and this continued into the final.
In an exhilarating 47, Rohit hammered three sixes, but he fell just short of the powerplay’s conclusion.
When the opener onto the field against Glenn Maxwell, he mishit the offside shot. Head retreated from the cover to receive a tumbling catch and remove the India skipper.
As hitting three consecutive boundaries off Mitchell Starc (3–55), Kohli (54) and India fell to 81-3 in the 11th over as Cummins caught Shreyas Iyer behind.
Then, Rahul (66) and Kohli (66) put together a somber rebuilding effort, even if it required 16.1 overs without a boundary.
After reaching his tenth fifty-plus run in eleven innings, Kohli was shortly off the field after he chopped a delivery from Cummins onto his stumps.
Rahul’s half-century of just one four demonstrated how tough the pitch was for shot-makers like him.
Josh Inglis, the wicketkeeper for Australia, set a record in the World Cup final with five catches.
After appearing to have an easy chase, Australia collapsed to 47-3 after seven overs when they were put to bat.
To add some spice to the match, Mohammed Shami removed David Warner in his opening over, then Jasprit Bumrah removed Mitchell Marsh and Steve Smith in his next overs.
Player of the game After that, Head teamed up with Labuschagne, who scored 58 runs without out, to end the game.
“What an amazing day! Just thrilled to be a part of it,” said the opener who missed first half of the tournament with a broken hand. “It was a great decision to bowl first and the wicket got better as the game went on.”
Head wasted the opportunity to score the winning runs when he holed out to Gill with only two runs needed to win after an outstanding innings that featured 15 fours and four sixes.
Glenn Maxwell received the honor, running two to cap off their triumph in front of a stunned Indian audience that had already read the writing on the wall and began to empty away.
The cricket players from Australia charged onto the pitch, outpacing their crestfallen Indian rivals.
Following the tragic conclusion to their incredible run in the competition, Mohammed Siraj broke down in tears and Rahul fell to his knees.
Like most of his teammates, Kohli, who was named player-of-the-tournament after topping the run charts, had a vacuous expression.
“The result hasn’t gone our way and we know that we were not good enough on the day, but I’m proud of the team,” Rohit said. “I thought when KL and Virat were batting, we were looking at 270-280 at that point but we kept losing wickets.”
“With 240 on the board, we wanted early wickets but credit to Travis Head and Marnus. “They put us completely out of the game and I thought the wicket got better to bat under lights.”
