Australia captured the Cricket World Cup 2023 title for a record-tying sixth time

Australia won the Cricket World Cup 2023 for a record sixth time, defeating India by six wickets at Narendra Modi Stadium in front of 92,453 fans.

Travis Head, who was chosen as the player of the match, completely crushed India’s best bowlers throughout the run chase, hitting an incredible 137 (120) to help Australia reach the 241-run target with 42 balls left.

With an incredible innings that featured 15 boundaries and four sixes, the 29-year-old made history by becoming the third Australian and seventh cricketer to hit a century in a World Cup final. Furthermore, he asserted a catch that changed the course of the game.

Head, who missed the first half of the match because of a wrist injury, and Marnus Labuschagne (58* from 110 balls) shared the second-highest partnership in Cricket World Cup finals history, scoring 192 runs between them to help Australia overcome an early 3-31 deficit during the Powerplay.

The Australians fielded brilliantly in the first innings, judging the situation well. They also bravely chose to bowl first, and they easily dismissed India’s unsteady middle order with a variety of slower balls and off-cutters.

However, having led the competition but falling short at the final hurdle, the Indians are left nursing their wounds. The hosts, who were overwhelming favourites heading into the title match, had little trouble defeating New Zealand in the semifinals and rarely faced any challenge in the group stage.

Still, they could not finish the assignment again. Despite dominating white-ball cricket for the past 10 years, India hasn’t won an ICC championship since 2013.

Before this, to everyone’s astonishment, Cummins won the toss and chose to bowl first because of the dew factor. The opposition skipper Rohit Sharma took advantage of Australia’s quicks, hitting four boundaries and three sixes in the Powerplay to give the hosts an early lead. At first, it seemed like the decision had backfired.

Also read: The 2019 Cricket World Cup victory by England

Shubman Gill, the opener, was dismissed by Starc for four runs in the fifth over, marking the first breakthrough of the day. The youthful athlete struck a brief ball directly towards midfield, where Adam Zampa made an excellent save.

Sharma raced to 47 before misfiring on a lofted drive against Glenn Maxwell in the tenth over. Head made a superb diving catch at cover to thwart the Indian captain’s attack. In the next over, Cummins tucked away a ball that Shreyas Iyer gave, and the right-hander then fluttered a catch through to Josh Inglis with the gloves.

India was in trouble at 3-81 in the eleventh over, but Virat Kohli remained unflinching.

Following the restart of the innings, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli put on a fourth-wicket partnership of 67 runs. They composedly rotated the attack through the middle overs, going 97 deliveries without scoring a boundary.

Before Cummins struck in the 29th over, Kohli appeared to be in complete control and might even repeat his heroics from the semifinals after reaching his ninth fifty-score of the tournament in just 56 deliveries. The Australian captain threw a short ball that Kohli tried to drive to third man, but it was cut back into his stumps. The crowd fell silent as he limped back to the sheds for 54.

Rahul reached his half-century in 86 deliveries before Australia’s seamers began to reveal some reverse swing, with Hazlewood finding Ravindra Jadeja’s outside edge for nine. Then, in the 42nd over, Rahul teased a length delivery from Starc to Inglis for 66, exposing India’s long tail.

The other wickets came like dominoes: Mohammed Shami edged past Starc; Zampa trapped Jasprit Bumrah on the pads; Suryakumar Yadav gloved a bouncer through to Inglis, who grabbed his seventh catch of the day, setting a record in the World Cup finals.

Also read: India’s Historic Victory in Cricket World Cup 2011

The hosts were bowled out for the first time in the tournament after only getting four boundaries in the tenth over, and they limped towards 240 all out.

Australia started their run chase quickly, scoring 15 runs in the first over. But David Warner did not survive the second over; the experienced opener was caught by Kohli at first slip for seven when he went for a wide ball from Shami. Not too long after, Mitchell Marsh departed in almost exactly the same way, flicking a ball to wicket keeper KL Rahul for a meagre fifteen runs after catching it outside off stump.

With a well executed slower ball, Bumrah trapped Steve Smith on the pads for four, putting ndia in control. The replays revealed the New South Walesman had been hit outside the off stump line, but he chose not to ask for a review.

After the Powerplay, each time the ball was thrown to India’s spinners, Head and Labuschagne steadied the ship and picked up the pace. In the 28th over, Bumrah hit Labuschagne’s front foot with a fiery yorker, but although India asked for a review, Umpire’s Call on Hawkeye spared the Queenslander.

Head was hitting the boundary rope with ease after he reached fifty; the crowd fell silent every time he put an Indian spinner through mid-wicket. He should have been run out after racing through for a daring single on 99, but Jadeja was unable to reach the stumps at the end of the non-striker’s innings. In just 95 deliveries, the South Australian became the first cricket player to reach a century in a Men’s World Cup final since 2011.

The scoreboard continued to tick away as the audience started to flood out of the stadium. The bowlers from India had exhausted all tactics and had lost the passion and ability they had displayed during the tournament.

Labuschagne struck his third fifty of the tournament with Australia inches from the goal. Their teammates were hugging each other on the bench as soon as the difference was down to just ten points.

But in a stunning turn of events, Head was dismissed two runs short of the target after hitting a brilliant pull shot against Mohammed Siraj and being trapped at deep mid-wicket. However, it merely moved Glenn Maxwell to the middle, and it seemed only right that the Mumbai hero should reach the winning runs.

Australia became the first side to win the Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 away from home since 2007 with Cummins packing the World Cup trophy, Ashes urn, and World Test Championship mace.

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