West News Wire: Australia achieved an incredible accomplishment by defeating the tournament favorites and hosts, India, by six wickets to win the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in Ahmedabad, bringing their incredible record of title victories to seven.
At a crowded Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday evening, the composed but seasoned Australian team cruised to a comfortable victory despite losing three early wickets in their run chase.
Australia easily won as middle-order batsman Travis Head hit 137 runs off of 120 balls and Marnus Labuschagne scored 58 off of 110 deliveries.
Even though they weren’t considered favorites to win when the competition started more than six weeks ago, skipper Pat Cummins and his squad were awarded a trophy as a result.
Indeed, Australia and India opened their campaigns against each other in Chennai on October 8, when star India batter Virat Kohli combined with KL Rahul to steer his team’s chase of a moderate total and get their first win of the tournament.
India were in a similar situation in Ahmedabad, where Kohli (54) and Rahul (66) once again came together for a rescue act. However, India’s batting collapse on the biggest stage saw them put up a paltry target of 241 at the end of 50 overs.
Australia’s bowlers, led by Mitchell Starc’s brilliant display of fast bowling with figures of 3-55 in his 10 overs, kept the Indian batting powerhouse at bay with regular dismissals. Captain Cummins ended with figures of 2-34 in 10 overs, while fellow seamer Josh Hazlewood had 2-60 in his 10 overs.
Australia’s most recent home victory came in 2015. Their seventh triumph extends their lead over the remaining title-winning nations, which now stand at two each, India and the West Indies.
England, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka have all taken home the trophy once.
According to Australia’s captain Cummins, “a couple of big-match players stood up,” meaning his team kept the best for last.
Giving Labuschagne and Head a lot of credit, he said that they “showed some character” by leading the chase on the grandest stage.
He claimed that “Head takes the game on and puts some pressure back on India.”
With the victory, Australia caps off an amazing year in which they defeated India in the World Test Championship final held in England and went on to win the Ashes.
