Australia beat India to win record-extending sixth World Cup title
Australia beat home favorites India to clinch a record-extending sixth ICC Cricket World Cup title. The Men in Yellow successfully chased down 241, with Travis Head slamming a historic century. Marnus Labuschagne duly assisted him with a composed knock. Australia finally broke the winning streak of India, who entered the final with 10 successive victories. Australia had qualified for their eighth World Cup final.
India post 240/10 against Australia
Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill started well for India, but the duo departed before the 100-run mark. Shreyas Iyer followed them soon. Virat Kohli and KL Rahul then took India from 81/3 to 148. However, Australia choked India, resulting in the dismissals of Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, and Rahul. Suryakumar Yadav couldn't make a difference as India perished for 240. Mitchell Starc took a three-fer.
Head's ton makes the chase one-sided
India dropped David Warner on the very first delivery of the run-chase. However, ferocious spells from Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami produced three quick breakthroughs, including that of Warner (47/3). Head and Labuschagne then shared a century stand to regain momentum. The former raced to his ton, which made the contest one-sided eventually. Australia won by six wickets.
Sixth World Cup title for Australia
As mentioned, Australia have won a record-extending sixth ICC Cricket World Cup title. They earlier won the tournament in 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2015. While Australia had qualified for their eighth World Cup final, no other has made it to the summit clash even five times. India and England share the second place, having qualified four times apiece.
Head slams a counter-attacking ton
Australia lost 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 Labuschagne and took the Aussies past 150. Head raced to his ton off 95 balls. He smashed a 120-ball 137 (15 fours and 3 sixes).
Head becomes third Australian with ton in WC finals
Head has become the third Australian with a ton in World Cup finals. Former batter Adam Gilchrist smashed 149 against Sri Lanka in the 2007 WC final, while Ricky Ponting hammered an unbeaten 140 against India in 2003. Overall, Head has become the seventh batter with this feat. Aravinda de Silva, Mahela Jayawardene, and Clive Lloyd are the others.
A composed knock from Labuschagne
While Head took on the Indian bowlers, Labuschagne blocked one end. The latter constantly rotated the strike, which allowed Head to attack. Labuschagne smashed an unbeaten 58 off 110 balls, a knock studded with four boundaries. It was his third half-century in ODI World Cups. The Australian batter finished his campaign with 362 runs from 11 matches at 40.22.
A record-breaking partnership for Australia
Head and Labuschagne added 192 runs after Australia were in a spot of bother. This is now the second-highest partnership in the ODI World Cup finals. They went past Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden, who shared a 172-run opening stand against Sri Lanka in the 2007 final. Head and Labuschagne shared the highest partnership for any wicket against India in World Cup 2023.
Zampa equals Muthiah Muralidaran's record
Mitchell Starc was the pick of Australia's bowlers, having taken three wickets. Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood picked up two scalps each. Adam Zampa took his only wicket of the final in the form of Jasprit Bumrah. However, he became the joint-highest wicket-taker among spinners in a World Cup edition. Zampa equaled the record of Sri Lanka's Muthiah Muralidaran (23 wickets in WC 2007).
Kohli powered India with a half-century
Earlier, Kohli smashed 54 off 63 balls (4 fours). Cummins ended his bid for a historic ton. Kohli is the first player with five successive fifty-plus scores in multiple WC editions (54, 117, 51, 101*, 88). He also recorded five such scores in the 2019 World Cup. Smith is the only other batter with five consecutive fifty-plus scores in a WC edition (2019).
Another record for Kohli
Kohli scripted another record with his knock against Australia. He is now the only Indian to record fifty-plus scores in both semi-finals and finals of a World Cup edition. Kohli smashed 117 (9 fours and 2 sixes) in the semi-final against New Zealand. He now has the highest individual score by a batter in the ODI World Cup semi-finals.
Kohli, Head join this list
Kohli became the third player with a century and a fifty in the semi-final and final of a World Cup edition. Aravinda De Silva (in 1996) and Smith (in 2015) are the other batters with this feat. Head later joined Kohli (62 vs SA, semi-final).
Rahul becomes first Indian number-five batter with this feat
Rahul smashed a 107-ball 66, which included a solitary four. He became the only Indian batter with over 400 runs in a World Cup edition at number five or below. Overall, England's Ben Stokes is the only other batter to touch the 400-run mark in this regard. He smashed 455 runs at 65.00 in England's 2019 World Cup-winning campaign.
Rohit breaks Kane Williamson's record
Indian captain Rohit smashed a 31-ball 47 (4 fours and 3 sixes). This was the fifth instance of Rohit falling in the 40s in World Cup 2023. As per ESPNcricinfo, Rohit ended the 2023 World Cup with a tally of 597 runs from 11 matches. He also broke Kane Williamson's record for scoring the most runs as captain in an ODI WC edition (578).
Partnership runs in a calendar year
Rohit and Gill tormented the opposition bowlers throughout the tournament. They now have 1,523 partnership runs in 2023, the second-most in a calendar year in ODIs. Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly occupy the top spot (1,635).
Only the second batter with this feat
Head is the second batter to score a century while chasing in World Cup finals. Sri Lanka's de Silva smashed an unbeaten 107 against Australia in the 1996 World Cup final. SL won the match by seven wickets.
Indian bowlers register this massive World Cup record
Indian bowlers scripted a massive record during the final. As per Cricbuzz, by picking the third wicket of Australia, India now have the most wickets by a team in a single edition of the global event. The Indian bowlers finished the tournament with 99 scalps. India broke the record of Australia, who took 97 wickets in the 2007 edition.
