Travis Head becomes third Australian with ton in WC finals
Australia's Travis Head played the knock of his life against India in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The left-handed batter slammed an incredible century after Australia lost three quick wickets while chasing 241. Head has become the third Australian to have scored a century in the ODI World Cup finals. Here are the stats.
Head slams a counter-attacking ton
Australia lost David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, and Steven Smith for just 47 runs in a crucial run-chase. Head, who survived a pivotal opening spell from the Indian seamers, launched his counter-attack in the middle overs. He paired up with Marnus Labuschagne and took the Aussies past the line. Head raced to his ton off 95 balls. He scored 137 from 120 balls.
Head enters record books
As mentioned, Head is the third Australian with a ton in World Cup finals. Adam Gilchrist smashed 149 against Sri Lanka in the 2007 WC final, while Ricky Ponting hammered an unbeaten 140 against India in 2003. As per ESPNcricinfo, Head has become the seventh batter with this feat. Aravinda de Silva, Mahela Jayawardene, Sir Viv Richards, and Clive Lloyd are the others.
A solid 192-run stand between Head and Labuschagne
Besides Head's 137, Labuschagne scored an unbeaten 58 from 110 balls. Head's knock was laced with 15 fours and four sixes. He struck at 114.17. Labuschagne played the supporting role. He managed four fours.
Partnership records for the two
As per ESPNcricinfo, Head and Labuschagne recorded the highest fourth-wicket stand against India in the ODI World Cups. Notably, this is also the second-highest stand against India for any wicket in the tournament's history. It's also the highest fourth-wicket stand for Australia versus India in ODIs. Head and Labuschagne have now recorded the second-highest stand in the ODI World Cup finals.
5th ODI ton for Head
In 64 ODIs, Head owns 2,393 runs at 42.73. He slammed his fifth ODI century. Head went past 250 ODI fours (264) and 50 sixes (53). He slammed his maiden ODI ton versus India. In six WC 2023 matches, Head smashed two tons (329 runs).
Australia beat India to lift their sixth crown
Australia beat India to clinch a record-extending sixth ICC Cricket World Cup title. The Men in Yellow successfully chased down 241. Australia finally broke the winning streak of India, who entered the final with 10 successive victories. India managed 240 as Mitchell Starc took a three-fer. In response, Australia were in early trouble before claiming a massive win.
