ICC World Cup 2023: Australia's World Cup Triumph: Head's Heroics and Sharma's Misfortune

Travis Head was the star of the show as Australia beat India by six wickets in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 final to win a record-extending sixth title. The Australian opener played a brilliant innings of 137 to help his team recover from a poor start before chasing down 240 with ease.

By Ashima Khan Nov 20, 2023, 12:50 IST

Travis Head was the star of the show as Australia beat India by six wickets in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 final to win a record-extending sixth title. The Australian opener played a brilliant innings of 137 to help his team recover from a poor start before chasing down 240 with ease. Chasing 241, Australia got off to a disastrous start and lost three wickets before reaching 50. David Warner, Mitchell Marsh and Steve Smith departed cheaply leaving their team at 47 for 3.

Travis Head, however, held firm at one end and combined with Marnus Labuschagne to pull his team out of trouble. He and the right-handed batsman put on a massive 192-run stand for the fourth wicket and sealed the game for their team. Head's innings ended in the 43rd over when he tried to play a big shot just 2 runs away from victory against Australia.

An exceptional day for Travis Head:
Travis Head's innings of 137 runs came from just 120 balls and included 15 fours and 4 sixes. Earlier in the game, he also took a stunning catch to dismiss Rohit Sharma. The Australian opener was adjudged the player of the match for his superb performance in the final.

Speaking after being named player of the match, Travis Head began by calling it an exceptional day and expressed his delight at having contributed to the win.

“Never expected this, not in a million years, a truly exceptional day. Much better than sitting on the couch at home. Really happy to contribute, the first twenty balls I played gave me a lot of confidence and yes I got through,” said Travis Head.

He went on to talk about the approach with the bat on the slower pitch, saying: "The way Mitch Marsh came out and took the game to the set tone, we knew the wicket could be difficult."

The southpaw also had some words of consolation for India skipper Rohit Sharma as he said: “He (Rohit Sharma) is probably the unluckiest man in the world right now. That was a very good catch to hold, who knows he might have got a hundred if not more."