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India (Commonwealth) _ Australia won the Cricket World Cup for the sixth time, ending India’s dominance in their home competition with a six-wicket triumph in a low-scoring final led by Travis Head’s 137.
Head paired with Marnus Labuschagne (58 not out) in a 192-run combination to chase down the mark of 241 in front of a raucous pro-Indian crowd inside the 132,000-capacity Narendra Modi Stadium.
Australia were struggling at 47-3 after seven overs, but Head and Labuschagne dug in to help the Aussies reclaim their crown as one-day international cricket’s champions, adding to their 50-over global titles in 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015.
Head was out on the next-to-last ball of the game, caught in the deep while attempting to smash a title-clinching boundary. Glenn Maxwell stepped in and scored two runs off his first delivery, clinching a victory that ignited pyrotechnics over the world’s largest cricket stadium.
India had won all ten of its matches before to the final, and they were looking for their third trophy in their fourth appearance in a title match that had brought a country of 1.4 billion people to a halt. Australia, on the other hand, outplayed them in every aspect, limiting them to 240 all out on a sluggish surface after losing the toss, with only Virat Kohli (54) and Lokesh Rahul (66) hitting half-centuries.
Head became only the fifth player in men’s World Cup final history to achieve a century – and the third Australian after Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist – and produced a crucial moment in India’s innings when he took a diving catch sprinting back from cover to remove Captain Rohit Sharma (47).
Following back-to-back defeats to India and South Africa, Australia ended the tournament on a nine-game winning streak. This was meant to be India’s day in front of a massive home audience, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after whom the stadium is named, in the stands.
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Instead, it ended in heartbreak as Head unleashed one of the greatest World Cup knocks of all time and Australia ran out surprise and comfortable victors. Some in the large stands had already left by the time 29-year-old Head got his century, while seamer Mohammed Siraj was in tears at the finish.
Australia was a contender when the competition began, but few expected them to go all the way, as they did when they won the 2021 T20 World Cup. Their campaign began with two defeats, first by India and subsequently by South Africa, but they have won the championship with nine straight victories, defeating every team in the competition in a row.
Their players, including England’s old enemies David Warner and Steve Smith, surged onto the field in celebration at the finish. Australia may have claimed the championship before, but this is one of their most memorable evenings. Head missed the initial four matches of Australia’s season due to a broken hand, but the team retained him in the lineup because of his match-winning ability.
He made 109 against New Zealand in his first outing, but this century was on another level as he faced with heavy pressure before attacking the bowling.
India’s poorest batting effort occurred at the worst possible time in the competition, but respect must be given to Cummins and his champion attack.
“We saved our best for last,” Australia captain Pat Cummins said, “and a couple of big-match players stood up, and we’re pretty chuffed.” We really were happy limiting India with 240 since we has a plan to be OK with anything less than 300.
“We were not good enough today,” admitted India skipper Rohit Sharma. He lamented that they were looking at 270 or 280, but we kept losing wickets. The Indian batsmen were unable to form a partnership, which is precisely what Australia did to win the game: they sewed a decent partnership after losing three wickets.
