IND vs AUS | Twitter reacts as standout Head century secures Australia record-extending sixth World Cup

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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India faltered at the final hurdle in Ahmedabad on Sunday after a flawless World Cup campaign to end runners-up by six wickets. A clinical display by the Australian bowlers and fielders restricted the hosts to 240 before Travis Head tamed the tricky surface to secure victory in 43 overs.

After being put into bat first in what seemed to be a dicey call by Pat Cummins, the Men in Blue raced away to 80 runs in the first powerplay as Rohit Sharma set the tone once again with a rapid 47 despite Shubman Gill falling for a paltry score of four. However, the dismissal of the skipper and Shreyas Iyer in the space of five deliveries stunned the sellout crowd at Narendra Modi Stadium into silence and firmly put the brakes on India's scoring. Virat Kohli and KL Rahul stitched together a laborious 67-run partnership in 109 deliveries, managing a solitary boundary, with the former registering his fifth consecutive half-century before succumbing to Pat Cummins. The hosts promoted Ravindra Jadeja up the order but the move backfired as the all-rounder contributed just nine runs even as Rahul kept hopes of a par score alive at the other hand. Once his marathon knock of 66 at a strike rate of 61.68 came to an end in the 42nd over, brief cameos from Suryakumar Yadav and the tailenders helped India post a target of 241. Mitchell Starc topped the wicket-charts with three scalps while Cummins delivered exceptional figures of 2/34 amidst a lightning fielding effort by the entire team. 

Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami kicked off the second innings with an exhibition of pace bowling, making the ball hoop across ends and scalping three wickets in the powerplay to suddenly make the target look like a tall task. However, Travis Head played spoilsport with an innings for the ages, scoring boundaries at will on the dry and slow surface where all other batters had struggled. Marnus Labuschagne played his part at the other end by trudging along cautiously and leisurely watching the opener break the shackles once he got to the three-figure mark off just 95 deliveries. Labuschagne also registered his half-century towards the end in 99 balls while Head holed out in the deep for 137, ending the 192-run partnership with two runs to get. Nevertheless, the men wearing canary yellow clinched victory with six wickets and 42 balls to spare thus handing the Men in Blue their second finals defeat, 20 years on from a similarly fateful night in Johannesburg.  

Hurts!

Eh bhagavan!! Kaha hi re tuuu!!😭

Script has been changed this time! 😭

Crying....

Bad day again!

No comments! They are enjoting the game!

Bahot kharabbb!

Sometimes it won't work!

Hahaha!

Yeah man!

Forget!

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