Triumphant Australia captain Pat Cummins basked in his side’s World Cup triumph over hosts India, capping a remarkable year by reaching “the top of the mountain”.
Australia arrived in Ahmedabad as underdogs, with the home side boasting a perfect record of 10 wins en route to the final, a monster crowd of over 110,000 roaring them on and familiar conditions.
They even had the tournament’s top-scorer in Virat Kohli and leading wicket-taker in Mohammed Shami, but were unable to match Australia’s ability to stand tall in knockout cricket.
Travis Head took the starring role with a brilliant 137, making light work of India’s under-powered 240 all out, as a six-wicket win made his country six-time champions.
It also capped a great year for Australia across red and white-ball cricket, having also pipped India to the World Test Championship crown in June and retained the Ashes with a 2-2 draw on English soil.
Reflecting on a stunning sequence of results for his side, Cummins said: “It’s crazy. This year will be a year we remember for a long, long time.
“It’s been awesome. We’ve pretty much spent the whole Australian winter away playing overseas but we’ve had a lot of success and this pips it all. Top of the mountain. We saved our best for last.
“The passion in India is unrivalled around the world. Every single person here was wearing that blue shirt and whatever the result we were never going to forget a day like today.”
Cummins had a fine day at the office. He made the bold and inspired decision to send a power-packed Indian batting line-up in after winning the toss and then produced a superb, boundary-less 10-over spell that included the key wicket of player-of-the-tournament Virat Kohli.
But he was happy to give Head his moment in the limelight, as well as sharing with some of the backroom boys who helped him reach the final after he suffered a broken left hand.
He was not fit until their fifth match of the tournament and was not even in India when Australia lost their first two group games.
“Trav does what he does. He’s really brave, he takes the game on, puts pressure on bowlers and to do it on the biggest stage showed huge character,” Cummins said.
“It was amazing. We couldn’t be happier for Trav, he’s a legend and we love him… how fun is he to watch?
“It’s also on the unheralded few, the selectors that backed him in even when he had a broken hand and the medical team to get him back out there. It was a big risk that we took and it paid off.”
Head was struggling to take in the scale of his achievement, with each of his four sixes and 15 fours stamping down the hopes of the hordes of over a billion Indians.
He had earlier taken a cracking over-the-shoulder catch to remove India skipper Rohit Sharma in full flow.
“Not in a million years (could I have imagined this)… what an amazing day. I’m thrilled to be part of it,” he told Sky Sports.
“It’s a lot better than sitting on the couch at home (injured). I was very lucky to get back here.
“I couldn’t imagine getting a hundred, I couldn’t imagine holding on to that catch… but you want to help your team-mates and contribute so to do that on a big stage in front of a full house, under all that pressure, is something I’ll be able to look back on all my life.”
Home skipper Rohit, who had dreamed of delivering his country’s first global trophy in 12 years amid stifling expectation, cut a hollow figure at the close.
“It wasn’t our day, we tried everything but it wasn’t supposed to be,” he said.
“We know that we were not good enough today but I’m really proud of how we’ve played from game one.
“We kept losing wickets and couldn’t stitch up a big partnership, which is exactly what Australia did. Credit to Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne, they stitched a big partnership and put us completely out of the game.”
Lewis and King star in West Indies' T20I opener against Sri Lanka
Brandon King and Evin Lewis starred at the top of the order to help the West Indies to a five-wicket victory in the first match of their T20I series with Sri Lanka.
Despite strong showings from Kamindu Mendis (51) and Charith Asalanka (59), the West Indies' opening duo did the damage as King's 63 and Lewis' half-century paved the way for victory with five balls to spare.
Sri Lanka started poorly with the bat, losing Pathum Nissanka (11), Kusal Perera (six) and Kusal Mendis (19) inside the first eight overs of the encounter.
Mendis and Asalanka helped steady the ship, with their knocks helping the hosts to 179-7 from their 20 overs, aided by the brisk cameo from Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who struck 17 runs from 11 deliveries.
The tourists wasted no time in chasing their target, with King and Lewis doing the early damage with their incredible 107-run partnership before the duo fell to Mendis (1-14) and Matheesha Pathirana (2-27).
Despite losing three wickets in quick succession, the pressure never mounted on the Windies, with handy contributions from Rovman Powell (13) and Roston Chase (19) helping them on their way ahead of the second match on Tuesday.
Data Debrief: Lewis makes special return
After a 723-day hiatus from the West Indies side, Lewis made his much-anticipated return to international cricket with a sensational half-century.
His knock included five fours and four sixes, ending the contest with a strike rate of 176.8, a total only bettered by his partner, King (190.9).
England 'realistic' about chances in Pakistan, says McCullum
Brendon McCullum says England are going into their three-match Test series against Pakistan with "realistic" expectations, and anticipates a tough test from their hosts.
England became the first side to achieve a 3-0 clean sweep in Pakistan during their last tour in 2022.
And Pakistan have had no success on home soil in the last two years, with a 1-0 defeat by Australia in early 2022 setting off a 10-match winless run, with Bangladesh the latest to triumph against them.
England are without captain Ben Stokes though, as he was ruled out of the first Test after failing to recover from a hamstring tear in time.
Despite recent history suggesting England may just have an edge, McCullum is taking nothing for granted.
"We go in with high hopes," McCullum told BBC Sport. "There will be no excuses whatsoever if we don't get where we need to get.
"We're also realistic this is going to be a tough series, because Pakistan in their own conditions, as history would suggest, it's a tough ask."
McCullum also brushed off concerns he was worried about not having James Anderson, who has been acting as their fast-bowling consultant since his retirement, with them for the first day.
"Jimmy has been a great resource for us, but prior to that, we didn't have a pace-bowling coach as such," he added.
"In the world we live in, communication is easy. Jimmy is in constant communication with the guys. I don't think it's a big issue."
For Pakistan, Shan Masood has lost all five Tests since being appointed captain last November, including the 2-0 defeat to Bangladesh in August.
"There is a lot of hurt within the players," Masood said. "This year, 2024, has not been a good year for Pakistan cricket all over, and we like to see our fans happy.
"The answer is to be positive. We let the past go. We have tried to maintain consistency in selection. We haven't had any chopping and changing because we have lost a few games.
"We believe in this set of players and with Jason Gillespie we wanted to create a squad mentality. The players are being backed to turn things around."
The first Test between England and Pakistan begins on Monday in Multan.
Stokes to have scan on hamstring injury before Pakistan tour
Ben Stokes will have a scan on his hamstring injury next week with the England captain in a race to be fit for their first Test in Pakistan.
Stokes sustained the injury at the start of August and was subsequently absent from the series win over Sri Lanka.
The 33-year-old revealed earlier this month he was being cautious with his recovery rather than risking further damage with a premature return.
As well as netting throughout his recovery, Stokes has also featured in this week's Celebrity Pro-Am at the PGA Championship in Wentworth.
Despite the issue, he has been named as captain of England's 17-man squad, which is due to depart on October 1 before beginning the three-match series six days later.
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