Australia won the Cricket World Cup for a record-extending sixth time today (NZT), ending India’s dominant run in their home tournament with a six-wicket victory in a low-scoring final on the back of Travis Head’s 137.
A heavily pro-Indian crowd inside the 132,000-capacity Narendra Modi Stadium was silenced as Head combined with Marnus Labuschagne (58 not out) in a 192-run partnership to chase down the target of 241.
Australia were wobbling on 47-3 after seven overs but Head and Labuschagne dug in to help the Aussies regain their status as the kings of one-day international cricket, adding to their 50-over world titles in 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015.
Head was dismissed off what proved to be the next-to-last ball of the match, caught in the deep while attempting to hit a title-clinching boundary. In came Glenn Maxwell and he ran two off his first ball, securing a victory that prompted fireworks above the world’s largest cricket venue.