On Sunday, Australia beat India by six wickets in Ahmedabad, largely thanks to opening batsman Travis Head’s brilliant 137. This victory extended Australia’s record for most World Cup titles by one.
In the final, Australia fell to 47-3 in pursuit of a difficult 241-run target, but the left-handed Head scored his second hundred of the tournament and guided his team to victory with seven overs remaining.
Despite losing, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the national squad.
Your skill and perseverance during the World Cup, Team India, were inspiring. He praised their competitive spirit and the honor they had brought to the country.
We will be by your side today, and always, he emphasized.
Travis Head’s Journey: From Injury Concerns to World Cup Heroics
On Sunday, Australia beat India by six wickets in Ahmedabad, largely thanks to opening batsman Travis Head’s brilliant 137. This victory extended Australia’s record for most World Cup titles by one.
In the final, Australia fell to 47-3 in pursuit of a difficult 241-run target, but the left-handed Head scored his second hundred of the tournament and guided his team to victory with seven overs remaining.
Marnus Labuschagne, undefeated on 58, and Head, who scored 192 runs in a marathon stand, halted India’s dominating streak of 10 wins in the tournament.
After Head’s 120-ball knock, which included 15 fours and four sixes, the Australian camp went into a frenzy of jubilation when Glenn Maxwell scored the winning runs.
Head, named man of the match, told Star Sports that he was “just thrilled to be a part of it.”
It’s far more exciting than watching the World Cup from the comfort of his house when he’s injured. Even though I was anxious, Marnus handled the situation magnificently.
A worldwide trophy drought that began with India’s 2013 Champions Trophy triumph ended when Head began working with Labuschagne.
With his century against Sri Lanka in 2007, Head became the third Australian to reach the century mark in a World Cup final, joining Ricky Ponting (140 not out against India in 2003) and Adam Gilchrist (149 not out).
Pitt Cummins (2-34) and Mitchell Starc (3-55) bowled India out for 240, setting up a victory for an Australian side that recovered from two losses to win nine in a row.
In response, India scored a run when Mohammed Shami (co-owned the ball with Jasprit Bumrah) caught David Warner behind for seven runs off the second delivery he bowled.
The crowd went ballistic when Bumrah bowled two consecutive deliveries, catching Mitchell Marsh behind for 15 runs and sending Steve Smith lbw for four.
Even though Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was trying to get a breakthrough by rotating his bowlers, Head and Labuschagne remained steadfast in their efforts to impede the Indian assault.
“Incredible” success
After Head broke his hand in September in South Africa, he was almost out for the World Cup. However, Australia held him on the squad until he was ready to play again.
In the sixth league game of the season, he scored a century that sealed the deal against New Zealand. In the nerve-wracking three-wicket semi-final victory against South Africa in Kolkata, he scored an aggressive 62 after a couple of low scores.
This year, he has turned the tables on India twice; in June, his 163 not out was the deciding factor in Australia’s World Test Championship victory at the Oval.
After hitting 100 off of 95 balls, Head proudly hoisted his bat to the cheers of the Australian locker room.
The results we’ve seen today are incredible, Labuschagne remarked.
“Of all the accomplishments in my life, this one ranks at the top. The tournament has gone to India, but any team may win if they play to their potential. “Travis put on a spectacular performance, and our bowlers were amazing,” he exclaimed.
The mood was established from the first ball onwards by our bowlers, Warner stated. The fielding bore that out.
The Australian team displayed outstanding fielding and disciplined bowling in support of Cummins’ choice to field first.
After Rohit’s aggressive 47, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli struck 54 and 66 runs, respectively, but the sluggish, dry wicket made the batsmen struggle.
Reflecting on a Historic World Cup Final and Australia’s Triumph
The innings of spinner Maxwell was cut short when Head made a spectacular catch en route back from cover point, dismissing Rohit.
Even if the 92,453 spectators, including the host team centered in the middle, had a forgettable day, Cummins bowled Kohli, the tournament’s leading batsman with 765 runs, to end it.
“The outcome wasn’t in our favor, and we are aware that our performance on that particular day was inadequate; however, I take pride in the team,” Rohit stated.
He stated, “I thought we were looking at 270-280 at that point but we kept losing wickets.” This was in reference to the batting partnership between KL and Virat.
Thanks to Travis Head and Marnus, we were able to reach 240. We were hoping for early wickets.
Under the lights, Rohit thought the wicket would be better to bat on, but they utterly knocked them out of the game.