Australia beats India in Cricket World Cup final
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Australia emerged victorious over India in the men's Cricket World Cup, putting a dampener on the celebrations of the most prominent cricketing nation in the world. India was hosting the tournament on their own soil for the first time, but unfortunately, they were unable to secure the win.
With captain Pat Cummins leading the charge, the away team secured a comfortable six-wicket victory over India, causing great disappointment to the home country who had eagerly anticipated reclaiming the championship title after 12 long years.
India's leader, Narendra Modi, bestowed the World Cup trophy upon the champions in the presence of Australia's vice premier, Richard Marles.
Travis Head, a cricketer from Australia, delivered an exceptional performance at the Narendra Modi stadium. The stadium is the largest cricket arena globally and is located in Ahmedabad, which is also Head's birthplace in the state of Gujarat. Head scored an impressive 137 runs, making it the highlight of the event held in a full-packed stadium. Furthermore, the venue was named after India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
Following the match, Head expressed his excitement about being involved in the game and mentioned how good it felt to have played a role in the team's win. It is worth noting that India had already defeated Australia earlier in the group phase of the tournament.
The team from Australia has won the World Cup organized by the International Cricket Council for the sixth time. This tournament has only been held 13 times. India, who had been playing really well and hadn't lost a single match, had to face defeat against Australia which put an end to their amazing run. Marnus Labuschagne, a batsman from the Australian team, acknowledged India's performance by saying that they were the best team of the tournament and played exceptionally well.
Australia won the coin flip and chose to bowl at the start. While India's captain Rohit Sharma looked confident and stylish initially, he was caught at 47, which proved to be a crucial moment in the game. India was restricted to a score of 240 for the loss of all wickets in their allotted 50 overs. Virat Kohli, a key batsman, scored 54 runs, while KL Rahul, the wicket-keeper, scored the most with 66 runs.
The Australian team emerged triumphant with a full seven overs left to play. A partnership of 192 runs between Head and Labuschagne kept the local supporters in a state of relative calm.
India, the country with the largest population and fifth largest economy globally, will be deeply affected by this loss. Cummins acknowledged that the love for cricket in India is unmatched worldwide.
Over the past few years, the game in the country has undergone a major transformation with the introduction of the thrilling Indian Premier League. This league features a shorter format than what is played at the World Cup, but it has caused a significant increase in the demand for the rights to broadcast and stream the series, which is now worth billions of dollars.
The tournament that lasted for six weeks took place throughout the subcontinent, covering Tamil Nadu in the southernmost part of the country to HPCA stadium situated beside the Himalayan mountains in the north. India had organized World Cup matches before, however, in collaboration with Southern Asian other countries, specifically including Bangladesh.
On X, Modi wrote that India had "competed with a lot of passion and made the country extremely proud".
Disney+ Hotstar, an Indian streaming service owned by Disney, had over 58 million viewers tuning in during the World Cup matches. The service had lost the rights to stream the Indian Premier League (IPL) last year, but made up for it by offering the World Cup matches free of charge to viewers.
