World Cup 2023 | Travis Head's Exceptional Ton Guides AUS To 6th World Title

Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne shattered India's World Cup 2023 dreams with record stand (x.com)

Brief Scores: India: 240 all out (50 overs) [KL Rahul: 66 (107), Virat Kohli: 54 (63); Mitchell Starc 3/55 (10), Pat Cummins 2/34 (10)] lost to Australia: 241-4 (43 overs) [Travis Head: 137 (120), Marnus Labuschagne: 58* (110); Jasprit Bumrah 2/43 (9), Mohammed Siraj 1/45 (7)] by six wickets. 

Australia overwhelmed tournament favorites India to bag their sixth World Cup title in the 2023 final at a near-capacity Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Indian batters crawl their way to 240 after Sharma’s 47

Losing the toss and getting invited to bat first, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma made the most of the opening powerplay once again this 2023 World Cup by taking Australia to the cleaners in the final. The cricketer blazed through Australia’s new-ball attack with a sizzling 31-ball 47, before his dismissal at the hands of Glenn Maxwell at the brink of powerplay dried up boundaries for the ‘Men in Blue’.

Following Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer’s early dismissals and Sharma’s batting bombardment, middle-order stalwarts Virat Kohli and KL Rahul conjured cautious half-centuries from their ends. Kohli pounded 54 from 63 deliveries to notch up his ninth fifty-plus score of the competition, while Rahul top-scored in the innings with 66 runs from 107 balls.

Apart from their 67-run defiance for the fourth wicket, Australian pacers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and captain Pat Cummins kept chipping away with key wickets to fold up India’s strong batting line-up at 240 off their 50 overs.

Starc claimed three wickets in his spell, including the key scalps of Shubman Gill and KL Rahul while Hazlewood and Cummins pitched in with two wickets each.

Head overcomes early strikes to lead Australian glory

Travis Head joined a gallery of legendary batters to slap a World Cup final century to his name, and a match-winning one no less. Opening the batting and losing partners David Warner, Mitchell Marsh and Steve Smith cheaply inside the powerplay, the dynamic southpaw punched out 137 scorching runs to overcome a tense run-chase for his side.

Indian speedsters Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, in search of key wickets, failed to pick any following their new-ball blitz as Head’s Australian charge alongside Marnus Labuschagne ensured his side cruised past the finishing line with seven overs and six wickets to spare.

Labuschagne cracked a watchful half-century of his own as Australia extend their World Cup dominance with sixth title.

---

ALSO READ

Adam Zampa Equals Muttiah Muralitharan's Legendary World Cup Wicket Haul

---