Image Credit- The Hindu.
Venue- Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad [November 19, 2023].
It was the finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. Hosts India were facing 5 times champion Australia at their own backyard. India on one hand was unbeaten in this tournament, whereas the Aussies did taste defeat on a couple of occasions during the group-stage games. However, the previous records don't matter much at this stage of the tournament. Either you perform and win the trophy or else the opposition will knock you down.
In this high voltage match, Australian Captain Pat Cummins won the toss and decided to field first. It was a packed stadium as over 1 Lakh Indian Spectators were out there to cheer their team. Amidst a sea of blue, Openers Rohit Sharma and Shubhman Gill came out to bat. The Hosts began their innings strongly, with captain Rohit Sharma scoring 47 runs off 31 balls. However, they suffered setbacks when they lost Shubman Gill, Rohit, and Shreyas Iyer in quick succession, leaving them at 81/3. Virat Kohli and K. L. Rahul then forged a partnership of 67 runs for the fourth wicket, but Kohli was eventually dismissed for a gritty 54. After the departure of Kohli the scoring rate slowed down drastically. Furthermore, Rahul's dismissal for 66 added more woes as the Indian scorecard now read 203/6. The remaining batsmen struggled to accelerate the scoring rate, and the innings concluded with Kuldeep Yadav's dismissal on the last ball of the 50th over, with a below-par score of 240.
Interestingly Australia's innings too got off to a shaky start, losing three wickets for just 47 runs within the first seven overs. However, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne steadied the innings with a partnership of 192 runs in 36 overs. Travis Head scored one of the brilliant hundreds in the history of the World Cup. He literally blew away the Indian Bowling Line-up. Apart from Head, Marnus too scored a solid 58* as the Aussies came closer to their 6th World Cup Title.
Head was eventually dismissed for 137 by Mohammed Siraj. However, by then Australia was already on the cusp of victory. Glenn Maxwell came in next and sealed the win by hitting the required two runs off the following ball, securing a six-wicket victory for Australia.
The Mighty Aussies silenced the Home Crowd with their performance. Captain Cummins delivered what he promised before the game.
To watch the highlight of the final, Click Here.
To watch the knock of Travis Head, Click Here.
No comments:
Post a Comment