2023 ODI World Cup Final: Australia show winning mettle to humble India, claim 6th title
Australia did what they do best on the big occasion to defeat India by six wickets and clinch a sixth ODI World Cup title.
It marks a remarkable stretch for the Aussies even by their incredibly high standards, having won the T20 World Cup in 2021, the World Test Championship final earlier this year, and now the ODI World Cup.
After 10 straight wins through the group stage and semifinal, head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma admitted that India just weren’t good enough with the bat on the day and ended up about 40 runs short of what they would have liked. India has now failed to win an ICC tournament since the 2013 Champions Trophy victory, going 0-for-10 including five losses in the final and four losses in the semis.
One of the hardest aspects for an Indian fan to process is that in three ODI World Cups played in India, Australia have now lifted the trophy twice (1987, 2023). They have won as many ODI World Cups in India alone as India have total ODI World Cups. Australia now lead the ODI World Cup head-to-head 9-5 which includes 3-1 in knockouts and 2-0 in finals.
Here are six takeaways from Australia’s sixth-championship winning performance against India:
Rohit sets the tone once again
I was a bit surprised when Pat Cummins won the toss and announced Australia would bowl first. I noted in my preview that recent history pointed to chasing being the winning option at this ground, but Australia have historically been a side that looks to bat first in the big matches. Come at the bowlers to set the tone and intimidate with runs on the board. Even Baggy Green legend Ricky Ponting said on the broadcast that he was surprised for the same reason.
India captain Rohit Sharma said he would have been looking to bat first anyway (though his initial body language suggested otherwise), and made the most of it by taking on Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood in particular from the very first ball. He played some absolutely spectacular shots in his 47 off 31, and this was despite some brilliant Australian fielding that saved several runs early.
Against South Africa in the semifinal, Starc and Hazlewood were so dominant they bowled 13 straight overs in tandem but Cummins was forced to make a change after seven overs in this one.
Some will take issue with the manner in which Sharma was dismissed, citing that he went for too much having already hit Maxwell for a four and a six in the 10th over. This has been Sharma’s approach all tournament, though, and credit to Travis Head for one of the best catches you’ll ever see in a World Cup final that altered the course of the final. Sharma would have been looking at the final few balls of the opening Powerplay as important scoring opportunities and rattle Maxwell, nothing more and nothing less. At 80/2 after 10 overs and in-form Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer at the crease, it was advantage India.
Aussie intensity, execution punches right back
Australia’s winning pedigree has been on full display after losing the opening two matches. While Sharma’s early onslaught would have shaken many a side, the Aussies remained resolute in controlling what they could control. They fielded brilliantly, stuck to their bowling plans and accompanying field placements, and then delivered a massive counter-punch with the wickets of Sharma and Iyer in quick succession. From 76/1 to 81/3, by never letting go of the rope and refusing to fall over the line, the Aussies found a way to do some of their own tugging.
With consolidators KL Rahul and Virat Kohli at the crease, Cummins kept offering bait to try and tempt Kohli or Rahul into a false shot but neither bit. It was cricket mind games at its very best, the beauty of playing cat and mouse in the middle overs. At one point, Cummins bowled six different bowlers in the span of seven overs, constantly keeping Kohli and Rahul guessing. Australia would have been thrilled to keep the partnership without a boundary for 97 balls, India fairly satisfied to have not lost a wicket during that time frame.
It was Cummins who then decidedly shifted the momentum of the match with the wicket of Virat Kohli for 54 off 63 when India was just looking to accelerate at 148/3 in 28.3 overs.
Head survives, then thrives
My mind is probably going to replay all those deliveries from Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami that Travis Head played at and narrowly missed early in his innings and wonder what if.
It’s hard to believe after the fact, but he was on 10 off 21 at one point and looked like he was struggling to come to terms with Bumrah in particular. In the next 99 balls he faced, Head smashed 127 runs and never gave the Indian bowlers a sniff. He had a very balanced approach until victory was virtually assured and looked to finish matters in a canter, picking off singles easily and lumping further pressure onto India by finding the boundary regularly as well.
It made Marnus Labuschagne’s arduous 58 off 110 all the more palatable, as Labuschagne knew the main thing was for him to ensure India couldn’t get a sniff back into the game. Sharma’s captaincy was found wanting for probably the first time all tournament, lacking the field placements that prevented singles and doing little to prevent boundaries regularly trickling in as well.
After missing the early stages of the tournament due to a fractured hand, Head finished the tournament with 329 runs from just six innings at an average of 54.83 and strike rate of 127.51.
Australia win the middle overs
If you’ve been following along over the course of the tournament, you know this has been my theme of the World Cup. India scored 80/2 off the first 10 overs, the highest score anyone had managed in P1 against Australia. The Aussies were 60/3. The men in blue won the first phase but it didn’t matter because they managed just 117/3 in overs 10.1-40. Australia in stark contrast finished 165/0 in those 30 overs.
India had been dominant in the middle overs throughout this tournament, and while credit certainly goes to Cummins for reading the pitch perfectly and ensuring his side was in the best position to reverse this Indian trend, the men in blue didn’t make enough happen with both bat and ball.
Even if there weren’t boundaries coming because of the conservative approach and how outstanding Australia were in the field, Rahul should have been more proactive in rotating strike. He played out 35 dot balls out of 67 faced (52.2%) during his partnership with Kohli while Kohli played 12 dot balls out of 43 faced (27.9%). After Kohli’s wicket, India just couldn’t stitch together another meaningful partnership.
With the ball, India were impacted by dew from about the 16th over but it was hard to imagine things could have gone this wrong. Entering the final, opponents had an average score of 143/5 in P2 against India but there was hardly any threat on this day. Mohammed Shami had generally been India’s first change bowler but Rohit Sharma decided to open the bowling with him for the first time all tournament.
It paid off in the first over with the first wicket of the innings but Shami increasingly looked a bowler who didn’t quite have control of how much the new ball was swinging. Making matters worse was that Mohammed Siraj, who thrives on using a new, swinging ball wasn’t used until the 17th over. The spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Jadeja went wicketless, and while Jadeja was very economical conceding 43 runs in 10 overs with just one four and one six, Yadav was handled rather comfortably as 56 runs came off his 10 overs.
First-timers with contrasting fortunes
Head was playing his first ODI World Cup and deservedly finished with the Player of the Match award in the final for his 137(120) with 15 fours and 4 sixes as well as an outstanding catch to dismiss Rohit Sharma. He was the Player of the Match in the semis and the World Test Championship final against India as well.
Marnus Labuschagne was also playing his first World Cup, was excellent in the field, and played an important, unbeaten knock of 58 in the chase. Even Josh Inglis can proudly say he hung onto five catches and didn’t concede a single bye.
On the other hand, Shubman Gill came into his first World Cup as one of cricket’s emerging superstars and was dismissed for 4(7). Shreyas Iyer, also playing his first ODI World Cup, hit a four and was out soon after. Suryakumar Yadav’s 18(28) and Siraj’s 7-0-45-1 (a meaningless wicket of Head with only 2 runs needed) left India gaining very little from their first-timers in the most important match.
Spotlight on Cummins
A bonus sixth takeaway for Australia’s sixth World Cup win. Pat Cummins had a thorough captain’s performance in the final, finishing with figures of 10-0-34-2 including the wickets of Kohli and Iyer, both of whom had been magnificent for India in controlling the middle overs of their batting.
His bowling changes and field changes were spot on, even getting away with four overs combined from Mitch Marsh and Travis Head for the cost of just nine runs. After the manner in which Australia started this tournament, he should be very proud of how he’s rallied the troops and led them to nine straight wins, and especially for finding their best overall performance in the final.
I have seen more talented Australian teams, but I don’t think anyone could have extracted more out of his resources than Cummins did from this group. Winning this World Cup is a truly remarkable achievement.
SILLY POINT
Still counting your blessings?
As India roared through the tournament, media personalities repeatedly said on digital platforms or television broadcasts said that Hardik Pandya’s injury became a “blessing in disguise” for India because it led to Mohammed Shami making the team. Fans of the team also sang the same tune.
The inclusion of Shami was absolutely massive and pivotal to India’s bowling finding another gear, but Pandya’s injury also meant that India rode with Siraj and Suryakumar Yadav for better or worse. Take away Siraj’s 7-2-16-3 performance against his bunny opponent Sri Lanka and he finished the tournament with an underwhelming 11 wickets in 10 matches at an average of 41.18 and economy rate of 6.00. SKY had a career ODI average under 25 coming in and scored 106 runs in eight innings at an average of 15.14, though he did have limited batting opportunities. The devil in disguise was that India had no choice but to live with both players results and only felt Pandya’s absence when it mattered most.
The balance Pandya provides the Indian team is absolutely vital, and his injury created a lack of batting depth that made Kohli, Rahul, Jadeja, and SKY all bat more conservatively for extended periods of time and fall well short of a par score in the final.
India pondered Ashwin vs. Siraj for this final until the the morning of the match and that debate would have also become all the easier if Pandya was available. They could have either had both Pandya and Ashwin play for SKY and Siraj or just had Pandya for Siraj which would have increased the batting depth while still keeping a third seamer in play in both cases.
SLIP CATCHING
Virat Kohli finished with the most runs in the tournament with 765 (a new single-tournament record). He finished with the Player of the Tournament award, a moment that provided deja vu to the 2003 final when Sachin Tendulkar won the honour for the then record 673 runs but Australia beat India in the final.
Rohit Sharma finished as the tournament’s second-leading run scorer with 597.
Mohammed Shami finished as this World Cup’s leading wicket taker with 24.
Thank you all for reading over the course of this World Cup, it’s much appreciated and I hope you enjoyed the content :)
Well written. Hats off to India for their earlier victories and great performance. Today without a doubt, Australia played to win and deserved the World Cup. Congratulations to the entire Australian team and well played India.