Australia has accomplished their hexa mission as the host side lost the final match of the 13th edition of the showpiece event by 6 wickets and 42 balls in hand at Gujarat.
Winning the crucial toss, the Aussies sent unbeaten India for batting at first. Men in Blue failed to get a flying start as opener Shubman Gill went back to the pavilion by giving a catch to Adam Zampa on Michell Starc’s over scoring only 4 off 7 balls. His opening partner Rohit Sharma however, played a promising knock of 47 runs by spending just 31 balls. The Hitman struck 4 boundaries and 3 sixes before being trapped in the hand of Travis Head while Glen Maxwell was bowling. Team
India got their third shock when another young-star Shreyas Iyar had to leave the crease scoring only 4 runs.
Indian fans were witnessing a beacon of light as two senior players – Virat Kohli and KL Rahul accumulated 67 runs in a crucial 4th wicket partnership. Both of them scored fifty-plus scores (Kohli-54, Rahul-66). However, the rest of the batting line-up failed to stand up against Australian bowlers as after Kohli’s departure at 148-4, reaming 8 batters added only 92 runs to the scoreboard before getting all-out for 240 runs.
Bowling a full spell of 10 overs, Starc became the highest wicket-taker from the Australian side in this match who gave 55 runs in total and took 3 wickets. Josh Hazelwood and skipper Pat Cummins – two other speed stars took 2 wickets each in their spell. While Hazelwood gave away 60 runs in total, captain Cummins was at another level today – spent only 35 runs, and put the hosing side under pressure. Zampa and Maxwell on the other side took 1 wicket each.
While chasing the comparatively easier target Australian openers struggled at first and got a slow start. David Warner had to go back to the pavilion by scoring only 7 off 3 balls while his team’s score was just 16 by 1. Michell Marsh and Steve Smith also returned quickly being dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah accumulating 15 and 4 runs respectively beside their name. Indian crowd was elated at that moment as the Aussies lost 3 top-order batters at just 47 runs.
However, mightly Australia came back in the match soon enough as opener Travis Head and Marnus Labuschange built a trailblazing 92-run partnership. Travis Head subsequently got out scoring 137 runs on Siraj’s last over but the Aussies needed only 2 runs which Maxwell chased in the very next ball. Labuschange on the other hand remained not out at 58 runs off 110 balls and became a part of history by scoring the slowest-ever World Cup fifty.
Bumrah was the key performer for the Indian side who took 2 wickets. Siraj and Shami took the rest 2 wickets altogether.
This win makes Australia a more successful team in ODI cricket. 6 world cup triumphs out of 13 editions. Last time when they became the champions, a streak was going on. India won the 11th edition final at their home, the Aussies won the 2015 World Cup at their home ground and subsequently host English Lions got their first title in 2019. With this victory, Australia breaks the streak as well. Another enticing fact is this same time lost their first two games in this tournament, created a miraculous scenario against Afghanistan and now lifted the golden trophy.
