On This Day, November 19: Australia won its sixth men’s World Cup title, thrilling in a super final as an impeccably dominant India failed, bowing to six-wicket defeat in front of over 90,000 fans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Travis Head Instrumental For Australia In The Victory Over India
Travis Head’s amazing all-round show ensured Australia’s victory. The opener was brilliant both in the outfield-the diving catch at point to dismiss in-form India batter Rohit Sharma, running backward to pluck out the decisive wicket-and then with the bat to engineer an Australian win after they were struggling at 47 for 3 at a very early stage in their run-chase.
The backbone of Australia’s recovery was formed by the Head’s hundred, though the right-hander fashioned an excellently paced 137. His knock, which helped Australia achieve their target of 241 with seven overs to spare, was going to turn out to be the highest score ever in a World Cup final while chasing.
India Struggles After Strong Start
This India, who had been brilliant throughout the tournament till then, including posting a mammoth 397 in the semi-final against New Zealand, was to find little momentum in the final. Starting well, reaching 80 runs in their first 10 overs, the Indian innings collapsed once captain Rohit Sharma got out.
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Captain Pat Cummins played a big hand in Australia’s bowling. He dismissed Virat Kohli, who had smashed the record for scoring the most runs in a World Cup-765. Kohli gets run onto his stumps by Cummins. The aggressive Cummins ends with impressive figures of 1/34 from 10 overs, effectively bringing the brakes on India’s scoring.
Clinical Bowling Attack By Australia
India could only muster 240 runs in their 50 overs and were significantly behind the required total to threaten Australia. The top order had set them up for a big total when their bowlers were able to keep the pressure going, taking regular wickets, thus drying up the runs.
The bowling strength of Australia was fully witnessed, and the team had accomplished their plans perfectly. After a shaky start in batting, the Aussie reply was calm and composed as Head anchored the chase to take the team through a historic victory.
Australia’s Domination In World Cup Finals
This win ensured that Australia remained the most successful side in the history of the ICC Men’s World Cup with its sixth title. Australia came up against a very strong Indian team, which had been brilliant throughout the tournament, to convincingly beat them in a true all-round performance, which included significant contributions from Travis Head and Pat Cummins.
