Australia won their sixth ODI World Cup after defeating India by six wickets in the final of the 2023 edition at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

Opening batter Travis Head led Australia’s chase by hitting 137 runs as they chased down the 241 target in the 43rd over.

Marnus Labuschagne made a valuable 58 runs and built a winning partnership of 192 runs with Head.

After losing three early wickets, Head and Labuschagne took charge and hit Indian bowlers all across the park to help Australia clinch the record-sixth ODI World Cup title.

Head hit a ton as Australia needed 50 runs in 16 overs to beat India in the final of the ICC World Cup in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

The opening batter was unbeaten on 106 off 96 balls as Australia were 191 for three in 34 overs. He was joined by Marnus Labuschagne who scored unbeaten 41 off 84 balls.

Opening batter David Warner and Mitchell Marsh departed early as they were chasing a 241-run target set by India.

Warner was quick to head back to the pavilion after scoring only seven runs. Head was then joined by Marsh, however, his stay at the crease was also a shorter one as he was out on 15 runs.

The hosts of the World Cup were all out on 240 on the back of a brilliant bowling and fielding performance by the Aussies.

For India, KL Rahul remained the top getter having scored 66 off 107 balls. Virat Kohli added 54 runs to the board before Aussie skipper Pat Cummings bowled him.

Australia’s Mitchell Starc took three wickets while Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood took two wickets each.

Earlier, India were in all sorts of trouble against Australia as set batter KL Rahul departed after scoring 66 runs in the final of the World Cup.

The hosts of the World Cup were 203 in 41.3 overs as they lost six wickets.

Australia got three wickets inside ten overs to slow down India’s batting after winning the toss and choosing to field.

Travis Head took a sensational catch to dismiss Rohit Sharma for 47 runs. Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer made four runs each.

“Looks like a bit of a dry wicket and wanted to bowl first. Dew is one factor and it’s quite dewy in the night at this venue,” said Australian captain Pat Cummins at the toss.

“Been really proud of the group. Tough start to the tournament but they haven’t put a foot wrong since,” he added.

Indian Captain Rohit Sharma said that he would have batted first if they won the toss.

India enter the game not only on the back of an undefeated record but will also count on hefty crowd support in the largest stadium of the country.

Australia lost only two out of nine games this tournament, one of them to India.

Conditions

No rain is expected in Ahmedabad today. Temperatures could go up low 30 degrees.

Once again, a fresh pitch has not been set aside for the match. Earlier reports had said that the match will be played on the same pitch as the Pakistan vs India game. Though old, the pitch could still provide a high scoring game.

However, the match time pitch report said it was not the pitch from India’s game against Pakistan.

Dew could be a factor, but a special chemical has been sprayed in the ground to mitigate its effects.

Squads

India

1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Mohammed Shami, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Mohammed Siraj.

Australia

1 David Warner, 2 Travis Head, 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Marnus Labuschagne, 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Josh Inglis (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins (capt), 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood.