Australia clinched the sixth World Cup title as they defeated hosts India by six wickets in the finals at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on 19th November 2023. It was a poor start by the Aussies they lost to India in the first encounter by six wickets and then were completely outplayed with 134 runs defeat to South Africa at Lucknow.
Australian head coach Andrew McDonald revealed the turning point during the tournament which let them win 9 matches in a row including the semi-finals against South Africa and then defeated India by six wickets.
It was a great performance by the Australian team as Pat Cummins won the toss and decided to field first. After an explosive start by Rohit Sharma, they kept picking wickets at regular intervals and bowled out India for 240.
In reply, Australia lost 3 early wickets of Warner, Mitchell Marsh, and Smith. Travis Head and Labuschagne showed their class putting on 192 runs for the 4th wicket. Head looked in great touch after surviving a few anxious moments in the initial stages. It was a superb knock by an explosive left-handed batter as he made 137 that led Australia close to the winning stage. Australia won the match by six wickets with 42 balls to spare.
“There was a get-together post-game (after the South Africa loss),” McDonald revealed on SEN Whateley. “It was about, ‘Let’s stick to it and believe in what we’ve set out to achieve’, and that it will come to fruition eventually, albeit it didn’t in the first couple of games.”
Australia came back strongly after two losses
Australia returned to form after two back-to-back losses against India and South Africa. They returned to winning ways with a 5-wicket win over Sri Lanka at Lucknow. After that victory, the Aussies went on a roll defeating Pakistan, Netherlands, New Zealand, England, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh in the league stage.
After being asked to bat in the semi-finals against South Africa, Aussie bowlers created pressure and bowled out them for 212. Travis Head and Warner got off to a quickfire start putting on 60 runs before a flurry of wickets put them back. Cummins and Starc ensured that Australia chased down the target by 3 wickets.
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