Travis Head ton helps Australia blow away India to lift 6th World Cup crown

India were bowled out for 240 after Australia captain Pat Cummins won the toss and asked them to bat on a slow wicket.

• Shubham
• 19 November, 2023

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By: Shubham Ghosh

AUSTRALIA won their sixth World Cup crown in cricket on Sunday (19) when they defeated hosts India at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad in the western Indian state of Gujarat by six wickets.

Opening batter Travis Head slammed 137 off 120 balls to secure his country’s emphatic win over the in-form hosts with seven overs to spare. Marnus Labuschagne remained unbeaten on 58 off 110 balls. The duo added 192 runs for the fourth wicket after Australia slumped to 47 for 3 in pursuit of a target of 241.

The win made Pat Cummins the fifth Australian captain and the first bowling one to win the top crown for his country. The other four are Allan Border, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting (twice) and Michael Clarke.

For India, Jasprit Bumrah picked two wickets while Mohammed Siraj, who became the highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 24 scalps, and Mohammed Siraj picked one each.

India bowled out for 240

Earlier, India had a less-than-satisfactory performance with the bat as they were bowled out for 240 on a wicket that was on the slower side.

The hosts, who were put into bat by Cummins who won the toss, had a tough time finding runs despite their captain Rohit Sharma giving them a flying start, scoring 47 off 31. After he got out while mistiming a shot against spinner Glenn Maxwell that India’s scoring rate was put under serious check by the Australians.

Virat Kohli (54) and KL Rahul (66) resurrected the Indian innings after they were reduced to 81 for 3 and added 67 runs for the fourth wicket in 18 overs when the former played on against Cummins. The tail wagged a bit to take the total to 240 and it was the first time that India were bowled out in the tournament.

For the Australians, left-arm seamer Mitchell Starc was the most successful with three wickets for 55 runs while Cummins and Josh Hazlewood picked two each, conceding 34 and 60 runs, respectively.

Both teams were playing the same XI that represented them in the semifinals. India defeated New Zealand by 70 runs while Australia beat South Africa by three wickets to make the final.