World Cup Final Recap
The Cricket World Cup final was a matchup between two behemoths of the sport in Australia and India. The host Indians dispatched of the Aussies with relative ease in the opening match of the tournament en route to an undefeated record leading into the finals.
Australia on the other hand had a well-documented 0-2 start falling to both India and South Africa.
The Aussies won the opening toss and elected to bowl first.
India started solidly with Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill scoring 30 runs by the 4th over. Then came the opening Aussie wicket off the bowl of Mitchell Starc as Gill popped it to Adam Zampa.
It was then Sharma and Virat Kohli batting in what is one of the scariest duos in the sport. Australia handled them decently as Sharma was out with 47 runs thanks to a brilliant Travis Head catch.
Just one over later Shreyas Iyer went cheaply with just 4 runs on the board. Virat Kohli and KL Rahul then went for a solid partnership taking India to 148 before Aussie captain Pat Cummins bowled the great Kohli out with 54.
Beginning in the 35th over, the Aussie bowlers raised their game. In the blink of an eye India went from 171-4 to just 240 all out.
Mitchell Starc played his best once again when the stakes were highest taking wickets in the 41st and 43rd overs. Adam Zampa got in on the action in the very next over pushing Australia one step closer with India at 214-8.
Josh Hazlewood was the bowler for the final two wickets as he forced Suryakumar to put a ball into the chest of Josh Inglis then watched as Siraj was run out by Pat Cummins. The final score was 240, a very attainable number for the Aussies.
The Australian innings did not start on a high note. David Warner was ousted almost immediately with just 7 runs as his strike was caught by Virat Kohli. Not long after Mitchell Marsh was sent packing with just 15 as Australia sat at just 41-2.
Steve Smith then came to the middle and fared even worse as he was bowled sitting on just 4 runs. 47-3. Australia was on the ropes. Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne had to string together a big partnership. And that they did.
Head, who was a controversial team selection due to his injury that kept him out of the early tournament action led the way. He worked his way through each and every bowler India threw his way protecting his wickets and picking his spots to attack.
He reached the half-century mark in the 22nd over and was not done there. He worked his way to 137 runs in the end and was caught out with his team on 239, just two runs away from victory.
Glenn Maxwell then joined Labuschagne in the middle who was terrific in his own right finishing with 58. Maxwell pulled his first ball for two and the World Cup belongs to Australia!
Vindication for Cummins
Much was said about Pat Cummins early in the tournament. His decision to include an injured Head on the squad, and his own subpar play had many questioning the skipper.
Turns out he got it all right. Head was the player of the match in both the semis and final, his decision to bowl first against India paid dividends, and he took two pivotal wickets in the final to claim victory.
