Head strums century against India to fire Australia to sixth ODI World Cup title
Travis Head scored 137 off 120 to help Australia beat India in the 2023 Cricket World Cup final at Ahmedabad.
Australia restricted India to 240 as Virat Kohli and KL Rahul made half-centuries, while Mitch Starc took 3-55.
Then, after falling to 47-3, Head and Manus Labuschagne put on almost 200 in a masterful chase to secure victory for the Baggy Greens.
Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma, got India off to a flyer, racing to 47, before a change in bowling saw Glenn Maxwell get Sharma caught spectacularly in the covers by Head.
After Shreyas Iyer fell third-ball, Kohli and Rahul steadied the ship, both putting on 50.
Both fell soon, however, as a Pat Cummins ball leapt off a length causing Kohli to play on as he tried to run it down to third man and Rahul nicked off with eight overs to go.
The Indian tail failed to add many more as Suryakumar Yadav seemed unable to marshal the death overs effectively.
The second innings got underway as David Warner edged the first ball between the slips.
The competition’s leading wicket-taker, Mohammed Shami, took the new ball alongside Jasprit Bumrah and the decision seemed to pay off when he got Warner early but Australia’s free flowing top three scored at ten an over for the first four overs.
Australia then dug in with only four boundaries coming in the eleven overs after Mitch Marsh fell in the fourth.
With Labuschagne dropping anchor at the other end, Head began to dismantle the Indian attack with a flourish of boundaries throughout his innings, including some audacious flicks over the leg-side.
His match-winnings hundred came from 95 balls before exploding to 137.
He eventually fell to Mohammed Siraj, finding Shubman Gill in the deep, but the damage was done and Maxwell hit the final ball away to square leg to seal victory with seven overs to spare.
The hundred-thousand strong crowd had begun to filter out as Pat Cummins lifted the trophy to an emptying Ahmedabad stadium.
To hear more about this victory, listen to the most recent episode of The One Short Podcast on Spotify or the Sport Gazette.
