Image Credit- Getty
The heart of the game may now be in India, but
Australians have once again proven to have the coolest heads in cricket.
Specifically, Travis Head, whose victorious innings of 137 from 120 balls in
Ahmedabad set up his team’s record-breaking sixth World Cup victory. However,
his most important contribution may have occurred around six and a half hours
earlier when he made one of the most game-changing catches in ODI history.
If Head hadn’t hung onto a steepling, sprawling take
and gone backwards into the covers to dismiss India’s captain, Rohit Sharma, in
his prime, what may have happened to these two teams? Undoubtedly, Australia
would have set a much higher final target of 241 and, judging from the
intensity with which India’s new-ball bowlers tore into their opponents during
the powerplay, especially Jaspit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami, there would have
been even more opportunities for their chase to have tipped over the edge.
Rather of giving up, Head persisted, so putting a
damper on an innings that was gaining momentum and would never entirely slow
down. India amassed 10 fours and three sixes while Rohit was in charge, racing
to 80 for 2 in the opening powerplay—the joint-highest phase total ever
achieved when batting first in a World Cup final. After his departure, India
managed to score 160 runs in the next 40 overs with just four more fours. The
main reason Pat Cummins had taken a chance by letting Rohit and company set the
agenda in the first place was because they could not post a total large enough
to counteract the unavoidable arrival of dew.
In the end, Australia’s triumph was decisive, since
they had six wickets remaining and an astounding 42 balls left unaccounted for.
However, the easiness of the ending concealed the danger that had come before
it. After seven overs, Australia was 47 for 3, facing two of the standout
players from India’s historic campaign. Bumrah was clearly out of position when
he was given out, and Steven Smith erroneously chose not to review the
leg-before-bowl.
The crowd had reached its maximum volume for the first
time during the game when David Warner, in his last ODI innings, scuffed
Shami’s first legitimate delivery to Virat Kohli at slip for seven after he had
fenced his own first ball of the innings (from Bumrah) past the same fielder’s
boot for four. Mitchell Marsh’s attempt to hit the quicks off their lengths
ended in a loose cut through to the keeper.
Despite the perception that he and Head were fighting
for a single spot mid-tournament, Marnus Labuschagne, who was kept in
Australia’s starting XI, demonstrated the worth of his Test pre-eminence with
an unstoppable 58 not out off 110 balls. He and Head maintained their vital
fourth-wicket stand of 192 over over, run by run, seeing off both pace and spin
until, at an indeterminate point around the chase’s 20th over, the bite in a
two-paced wicket gave way to the even-sprayed skid of the long-promised dew and
the sweet taste of a sixth World Cup victory.