ICC Cricket World Cup Final: India vs Australia

Date: Sunday November 19, 08:30 GMT
Location: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, India
Teams:India vs Australia

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India and Australia face off in final

India go into the final as huge favourites, however, Australia are a dangerous opponent for the hosts. India have been in imperious form throughout the tournament and have home advantage, but Australia have improved greatly during the second half of the tournament and have developed a knack of finding a way to win.

India

After a flawless group stage, India secured their place in the final with a comfortable win over New Zealand. The match featured a record-breaking performance by Indian captain Virat Kohli, who notched up his 50th one-day international century, surpassing the legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s century tally.

India set a formidable total of 397-4, propelled by Kohli’s effortless innings of 117 runs from 113 balls. Adding to the spectacle, Shreyas Iyer played a blistering knock, scoring the game’s fastest century with a 70-ball 105, including eight sixes.

New Zealand, in response, showed resilience, with Daryl Mitchell’s superb ton and a partnership of 181 runs with skipper Kane Williamson, momentarily silencing the home crowd. However, the turning point came when Mohammed Shami removed Williamson for 69 and Tom Latham for a two-ball duck in the 33rd over, putting India back in control.

Despite Glenn Phillips’ valiant effort with 41 runs from 33 balls, New Zealand’s hopes dwindled as Mitchell departed for an impressive 134, falling victim to Shami. The fast bowler ended with exceptional figures of 7-57, the best for India in ODIs. In the end, New Zealand were bowled out for 327, falling short by 70 runs. India, who have been in record breaking form throughout the tournament go into the final as clear favourites. Hosting the competition is, in many ways, an advantage but with this comes pressure. To date, India have handled this.

India Squad:

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Prasidh Krishna.

Australia

Since back to back defeats to India and South Africa Australia’s form has made people sit up and take notice. Pat Cummins’ side have shown steel as well as skill during the group stages and the semi-final.

Afghanistan looked as though they were going to get a famous victory until Glenn Maxwell’s superb undefeated double century saw Australia seal their semi-final spot with a famous victory.

A thrilling semi-final saw Australia overcome South Africa.The Proteas had been reduced to 24-4 following superb new-ball bursts from Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc before David Miller dug in to save the innings with a gritty 101 from 116 balls.

South Africa eventually made 212 and upon starting their innings the Aussies flew out of the blocks with Travis Head rocketing to a rapid 62 before the South African spinners began to asset themselves and Australia slipped to 137-5.

Australia dug in and edged closer but were still 20 runs short when they llost their seventh wicket.The pressure began to mount as a South Africa comeback looked possible, however, as the momentum threatened to shift to the Proteas Cummins and Starc kept their heads to grind out the win with 16 balls remaining. Australia will be a difficult opponent in the final as it is expected that the grit shown in the semi final will be very much on display in Sunday’s showpiece.

Australia squad:

Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa.

Prediction

India go into the tournament as favourites but they will not be expecting an easy ride against Australia. At the time of writing Unibet have India priced at 4/9 with Australia 7/4.

Unibet

(4.8/5)

India have dominated the tournament so far and have match winners throughout their side, along with home advantage. While Australia will be determined to cause an upset I feel that it will be too big an ask for them to stop India. India to win to complete a perfect World Cup campaign on home soil.

After Kohl hot his record breaking 50th ODI century in the semi-finals bettors may be keen to back him to hit his 51st in the final. BoyleSports, at the time of writing are offering 3/1 on Kohli making a century in the final.