On Sunday, India and Australia faced off in the 2023 World Cup final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
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Batting first, India got off to a quick start, scoring 80/2 in their first 10 overs before the Australian bowling and fielding began to pull things back. India eventually finished with 240, thanks mainly to the efforts of Virat Kohli (54) and KL Rahul (66).
In reply, Australia seemed to be in trouble at 47/3 inside the Powerplay, before a stunning partnership between Travis Head (137) and Marnus Labuschagne (58*) took them to within 2 runs of victory, before Glenn Maxwell hit the winning runs, sealing their sixth World Cup.
Three reasons why India lost the World Cup
Adapting to conditions
The pitch for the final in Ahmedabad was slightly on the slower side, and drier as well. In the first innings, Australia made full use of this by bowling cutters into the pitch and taking away any pace India could have used to their advantage.
Rohit Sharma said that he would have batted first had he won the toss in any case, but it also seemed that India did not have a plan for the way the pitch played in the second innings, flattening out and not being as slow as the first innings.
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Aggressive Australian top-order
If there was one thing Australia could depend upon to do at this World Cup, was to go hard with the bat from the start and they did just that over the course of their campaign.
This was no different in the summit clash. Australia scored 28 runs off the first two overs, and even when they were 47/3 the period of consolidation was eased for Marnus Labuschagne thanks to Travis Head's approach of going after the bowling. In the end, it was Head's adventurous style that turned a potentially tricky chase into a cakewalk.
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Clarity of Australian plans
While this was less an Indian issue than an Australian quality, the hosts were undone in the first innings by some excellent planning from the visitors, as well as the execution of these plans.
Australia fielded brilliantly and kept their calm even after India made a fast start. By bringing back his main bowlers in the middle overs to dovetail with Adam Zampa, captain Pat Cummins ensured a sure and steady threat for the Indian batters. Using the part-timers when India were looking to consolidate was also a superb move, allowing for more flexibility at the back end of the innings.
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