Indian pace bowler Mohammed Shami expressed his disappointment over his team’s loss to Australia in the 2023 World Cup final. The 33-year-old, who finished as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker, termed the six-wicket defeat as a “hard pill to swallow.” Despite finishing the tournament with 24 wickets in seven matches, Shami could not replicate his performance in the final.
The bowler only managed one wicket, dismissing Australian opener David Warner, but he also bowled nine extras. In his Instagram post, Shami expressed his gratitude to the fans for their support and reaffirmed his pride in the team. “We win some, we lose some. Tough pill to swallow for us but we keep our heads up. Proud of this team 💙 and thank you for all the love and support, keep supporting and loving 🇮🇳,” the bowler wrote.
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The defeat marked the end of a World Cup campaign that began with India winning its first seven matches. However, the team was unable to maintain the momentum in the knockout stage, losing to New Zealand in the semi-finals before falling to Australia in the final.
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Despite the disappointment of the loss, Shami had an exceptional individual tournament. His 24 wickets put him at the top of the wicket-scorers’ list, and his best performance, seven wickets against New Zealand in the semi-finals, was one of the highlights of the tournament.
Australia has won their 6th World Cup in the 2023 edition of the tournament owing to a brilliant performance from their opener Travis Head who amassed 137 off 120 deliveries and sealed a rather dominating win over India, who have been rather dominating throughout the tournament. Chasing a rather meager target of 241 runs, Australia got over the line with 7 overs to spare and with 6 wickets in hand.
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Earlier in the game, half-centuries from KL Rahul and Virat Kohli helped the hosts post 240 runs in the allotted 50 overs. Virat Kohli has had a remarkable outing in the 2023 World Cup. Despite the fifties for Virat and Rahul India only managed to reach the score of 240 runs in their quota of 50 overs owing to the brilliant all-round performance from the Australian bowlers and fielders well assisted by the slowness of the pitch. Australia captain, Pat Cummins made the right call of bowling first after winning the toss. For teh Aussies, Pat Cummins (2/34) and Mitchell Starc (3/55) bowled excellent spells.
