Australian captain Pat Cummins shared that all the players were eager to get on the field to play the 2023 World Cup final on Sunday. The veteran has applauded his bowlers for bowling brilliantly on the track which was slower than he thought. However, Cummins chose to bowl first after winning the toss in the final. And, they justified the decision, restricting an in-form Indian batting lineup to 240 in 50 overs. They later chased it down in 43 overs, on the back of Travis Head’s 137.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Cummins said: “Couple of big match players stood up, and we’re pretty stuffed. We’ve been batting first pretty much for the whole tournament, today we thought, it’s a good night to chase down, we thought it might actually get a little bit easier. Everyone was pretty keen to get out there. It was a bit slower than I thought, didn’t particularly spin probably as much as we thought either. Everyone adjusted pretty well and bowled some tight lines.”
The right-arm pacer also admitted that he was slightly nervous despite restricting India to a belo-par score. But he credited Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne for playing well in the middle.
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Pat Cummins further added: “We were really happy with 240. I was one of those blokes with the heart fluttering. Magnificent. Marnus walked in with a cool head and Travis does what he does. Really brave, he takes the game on, puts some pressure back on the bowlers and to do it on the biggest stage shows a lot of character. The selectors have backed him even when he had a broken hand and the medical team to get him back.”
However, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne steadied the ship after Australia found themselves struggling at 47-3. However, the pair stayed strong and put on a match-winning partnership of 192 as well.
“You gotta go and win the World Cup, you can’t wait for it to happen. You got to be brave, you got to take the game on. This year will be remembered for a long, long time and we had a lot of success over the winter and this one peaks it all. At the top of the mountain,” Pat Cummins concluded.
