Key events
39th over: Australia 219-3 (Head 127, Labuschagne 48) Ravi Shastri is commentating, and he sounds like somebody who has just been given the dreaded news by the vet. Before the game it was hard to see Australia winning; it was impossible to see them battering India like this.
Labuschagne’s role has been so vital – he’s hit only two boundaries, one off the edge, but with Head playing such a commanding innings, his only job has been to hang around and rotate strike. I also think his first 10 or 20 balls were crucial; not that he survived them so much as the assurance with which he did so. It was the first suggestion that Australia might be able to withstand an unprecedented storm.
“This is a cross between the Maracanazo of 1950 and West Germany beating Hungary in 1954: the most dominant World Cup run ever, ruined in front of a home crowd,” writes Daniel Harris. “Incredible.”
Heh, quite, although the pedant in me would argue Australia’s 2007 run was even more dominant, regardless of today’s result.
38th over: Australia 214-3 (Head 125, Labuschagne 45) Same again! Kuldeep tosses one up, so Head pummels it over wide long on That’s his fourth six to give with 14 fours. Another thing that makes Head’s innings even more impressive is that he was all over the place in the first few overs.
It would have been so easy to keep swinging and pray, knowing he coul use the ‘it’s the way I play defence’. But he dug in – at one stage he made 2 off 19 balls, riding his luck along the way – and waited until batting got a little easier. And then a lot easier.
37th over: Australia 204-3 (Head 117, Labuschagne 43) A dream is dying in front of 130,000 people. The new bowler Siraj is pulled mightily over midwicket for six by Head, who is doing to India’s World Cup dream what Gerald Coetzee did to his hand a couple of months ago. That injury and subsequent layoff makes this innings even more remarkable.
36th over: Australia 195-3 (Head 109, Labuschagne 42) “Second World Cup final in a row with a slow, difficult wicket,” says Luke Dealtry. “Are batsmen ever selected for what they can do on this type of pitch? Trying to think of the kind of batsman that can use their timing and power to dominate in these conditions. Stokes eventually came good in the last final but it was tough even for him.”
Well, one player was picked for a pitch like this, and he’s currently 42 not out. I know what you mean though. I find it odd that people say the 2019 final was superior to the 1999 semi-final. The greatest finale, no question, but for 95 overs it was a prosaic game.
35th over: Australia 192-3 (Head 107, Labuschagne 41) Head’s in a hurry now. He slog-sweeps Jadeja mightily for six more, and the usual singles bring the target down to 49 from 90 balls. Jadeja, a potential matchwinner, finishes with figures of 10-0-43-0. That’s drinks.
All tournament, we’ve been looking to the past for statistical similarities and precedents. Well, my friends, this is becoming the 1996 final in reverse, and Head is playing Aravinda de Silva.
TRAVIS HEAD MAKES AN AMAZING HUNDRED!
34th over: Australia 185-3 (Head 100, Labuschagne 41) Head launches Kuldeep over the leg side for successive boundaries. Two more down the ground takes him to 99 – and then he reaches his hundred with an absurdly risky single! He would have been miles out with a direct hit.
Head lives on the edge, so in that sense it’s apt he reached his hundred with such a dodgy single, but actually this innings has been notable for his management of risk. He has surely never played with such destructive power and maturity.
With an extremely respectful nod to Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards, Aravinda de Silva, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Mahela Jayawardene, this is the greatest hundred in a men’s World Cup final: 95 balls, 14 fours and one six. If he sees it through, it’ll have a case for being the greatest ODI innings ever played.
33rd over: Australia 174-3 (Head 89, Labuschagne 41) Head hacks Jadeja to cow corner, one of only two singles in the over. He has 89 from 90 balls, Labuschagne 41 from 81. His role is crystal clear.
“Not sure if it’s been commented on,” says Jon Salisbury, “but a marked difference in the desperation of the two sides to save boundaries.”
What makes Australia’s fielding even better is that most of them are in their thirties. That first 10 overs against South Africa was among the most exhilarating team displays of fielding I can recall.
32nd over: Australia 173-3 (Head 88, Labuschagne 40) Kuldeep replaces Bumrah to no great effect. Rohit has been a giant all tournament, with brain and bat, but I think he’s been too defensive here.
Now, if you were to ask me to name three great World Cup batters, who delivered when it really mattered, I wouldn’t say Richards, Kohli, Ponting. I’d go Head, Boon. Brearley.
Players with 50+ scores opening the batting in both semi-final and final of a men’s World Cup tournament:
2023 – Travis Head
1987 – David Boon
1979 – Mike Brearley— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) November 19, 2023
31st over: Australia 170-3 (Head 87, Labuschagne 39) Jadeja continues. At this rate Siraj will have to bowl his last seven overs off the reel.
There are four dot balls in a row to Labuschagne, though that’s no issue for Australia. Head is stealing the show but he couldn’t have done this without Labuschagne’s soothing presence. The pressure and noise when he came to the crease were like nothing he has ever experienced.
Australia need 71 from 114 balls. India can still win this – I wouldn’t want to be a new batter in this atmosphere – but time is running out.
30th over: Australia 167-3 (Head 86, Labuschagne 37) Bumrah produces two superb yorkers that are dug out, one by each batter. That’s his seventh over done. I’d give him at least two more if that’s what it takes to get a wicket. In this atmosphere a spectacular collapse is always possible – but only if they break this partnership very soon. No point saving Bumrah’s overs for when Australia are 210 for three.
“The best team never to win the World Cup is definitely West Indies, 1983,” says Taimur Khan Jhagra. “The only team that lost the final that no one would ever have believed on the day, ironically, defeated by India.”
Yep, fair point. They beat everyone apart from India by huge margins.
29th over: Australia 163-3 (Head 85, Labuschagne 35) Three from Jadeja’s over. Pat Cummins’ surprising decision at the toss looks increasingly like a stroke of genius.
28th over: Australia 163-3 (Head 84, Labuschagne 35) Australia ran a leg-bye on that LBW appeal, the penultimate ball of the over, and Head added bleach to the wounds with a whirling pull for four more. Bumrah’s comeback over goes for 14, and Travis Head is playing with the most intimidating certainty: 84 from 79 balls with 12 fours and one six.
Labuschagne is not out!
It was umpire’s call! India’s players cannot believe it. Bumrah went wide on the crease and the angle would have taken the ball onto the outside of leg stump. For the umpteenth time in this tournament, the on-field decision was crucial.
India review for LBW against Labuschagne! It was a blistering yorker from Bumrah, and it looks really close. This is the game, right here.
Breaking news: Jasprit Bumrah is bowling
27.3 overs: Australia 156-3 (Head 79, Labuschagne 34) This is it, Bumrah or bust for India. Head hits his first ball for four, just as he did when Shami came back. It was a slower ball, I think, and Head chipped it emphatically over midwicket.
Bumrah deflects a straight drive onto the stumps, but Labuschagne was back in his crease. And then Head does it again, lasering Bumrah’s third ball down the ground for four. A nervous start aside, Head has played one of the great World Cup final innings – not least because he had to seriously modify his usual approach. Who needs role clarity?
27th over: Australia 148-3 (Head 71, Labuschagne 34) Four more singles off Jadeja, the third of which brings up an exceptional, increasingly serene century partnership in 20 overs.
“How are you?” says David Bowen, before getting down to brass tacks. “I’m currently in a child’s soft play in a converted warehouse on an industry site on the eastern outskirts of Cardiff where the air is tinged with urine and hate, I’ve paid £25.50 for the privilege of use and American Pie is blasting from the speakers. Needless to say I’ve had better Sunday afternoons. But surely the Indian team and nation would be in a worse place should they fail to win this World Cup in which they have been magnificent throughout.”
They would win the dubious honour of being the best team not to win a World Cup. Who is it at the moment? England 1992? South Africa 1999?
26th over: Australia 144-3 (Head 69, Labuschagne 32) Marnus Labuschagne, the old rogue. As Geoff Lemon pointed out on the TMS preview, Labuschagne has had about seven stays of execution in this tournament, for a variety of reasons. And here he is, when it matters, doing what he does best.
A classical extra cover drive off Shami brings his first deliberate boundary. It’s not just the runs that are important: his watertight defence calmed Australia down when all hell was threatening to break loose.
The moment I mention Labuschagne’s permanence, he top-edges a lazy hook that teases Bumrah at fine leg before dropping short. But another good over for Australia ends with a sizzling pull for four by Head. Never mind big hundreds in Ashes openers and World Test Championship final: this could be the innings of his life.
Australia need 97 from 24 overs. I cannot believe India are hiding their genius at fine leg.
Thanks for all your emails, by the way. I am miles behind, for obvious reasons, but will read as many as I can.
25th over: Australia 135-3 (Head 66, Labuschagne 27) Head is surprised by some extra bounce from Jadeja – but the edge flies through the vacant slip cordon for four more. Four low-risk singles prompt Ian Smith, on commentary, to wonder why India haven’t brought the field up. It feels like they are waiting for a wicket rather than actively seeking it.
“Maybe getting ahead of myself here,” says Nick Parmenter, “but trying to work out what home sporting final would have caused a bigger heartbreak than this should India lose. I can only think of Brazil 1950.”
Yeah, Scott Murray, who knows more about that game than almost anyone alive who wasn’t there, mentioned the same when India started to wobble with the bat. Hard to think of any other comparisons. But it hasn’t happened yet.
24th over: Australia 127-3 (Head 59, Labuschagne 25) Rohit Sharma turn to Mohammad Shami, the most reliable wicket-taker in the tournament. Head slams his first ball down the ground for a one-bounce four, another nerveless statement of World Cup-winning intent.
India are starting to look lost, though one wicket would change all that. Either batting is getting easier under the lights or Head and Labuschagne are playing obscenely well. Australia need 114 from 26 overs.
About three weeks ago I told anyone who would listen that only Travis Head could stop India winning the World Cup. If Australia win, I’ll forever cherish the moment my broken clock told the right time.
23rd over: Australia 122-3 (Head 54, Labuschagne 25) There is a bowling change – but it’s Jadeja who comes on, and he’s milked efficently for five singles. India are under pressure like never before in this tournament.
“‘Hey Kat, how did you spend the last day of your holiday?’” begins Kat Petersen. “‘Sitting in my hotel room glued to the cricket, obviously.’
“This is acceptable, right? Please tell me it’s acceptable.”
Depends where the holiday is. If you’re anywhere in England, fair enough. But if you’re on the Galapogos Islands, we need to talk.
Fifty for Travis Head!
22nd over: Australia 117-3 (Head 50, Labuschagne 23) Head waves Kuldeep for a single to bring up a crucial fifty from 58 balls. It’s been a three-paced innings, and an increasingly authoritative one. In the circumstances, and given Head’s death-or-glory approach over the last couple of years, this has developed into a remarkably mature innings.
Labuschagne gets his first boundary with a big edge through the vacant slip cordon. India need Bumrah right now.
21st over: Australia 110-3 (Head 49, Labuschagne 18) A high bouncer from Siraj is flogged to the midwicket boundary by Head, who is playing beautifully now.
India need a wicket with increasing urgency. I know it might leave him short later in the innings, but Rohit surely needs to go back to Bumrah or Shami for a couple of overs.
20th over: Australia 104-3 (Head 44, Labuschagne 17) Labuschage is beaten by a wrong’un from Kuldeep, but it’s another good over for Australia: five from it. They’ve quietly edged back in front, though there will surely be at least another twist or 12.
19th over: Australia 99-3 (Head 43, Labuschagne 13) Head makes room to lash Siraj to the cover sweeper for a single. Labuschagne steals another on the off side to bring up a blood pressure-reducing fifty partnership from 71 balls.
“Possibly good news for Bumrah: Joel Garner didn’t play ODIs with a white ball,” says the admirably pedantic Bob O’Hara. “His last game was in 1987, and the white ball was first used in 1992. But I don’t know (= I can’t be bothered to check) if he used a white ball during a Packer series.”
Yep, I should have said “limited-overs bowler”. Alas, the last time I was truly able to think straight was sometime in February 2011, so I had no chance when it was all going off in the Powerplay of a World Cup final.
18th over: Australia 95-3 (Head 41, Labuschagne 11) Kuldeep continues after the drinks show, conceding a couple of singles. This is exactly why Australia picked Labuschagne, to score 11 not out from 32 balls in a fraught runchase.
“The VAR comment was meant as a joke, apologies,” says Tim Woods. “Clearly I needed a better delivery.”
On the contrary, you did unto me as Bumrah did unto Smith with that slower ball.
17th over: Australia 93-3 (Head 40, Labuschagne 10) Mohammad Siraj replaces Jadeja, who bowled a good spell of 3-0-11-0. Australia will surely target Siraj, who usually takes the new ball but will have to bowl 10 of the last 34 overs today. He’s still a serious handful; he just isn’t Bumrah or Shami, or Jadeja and Kuldeep on a dry surface.
Head smashes the first ball to short extra cover, where Kohli makes a brilliant – and brilliantly nonchalant – stop. Head gets one away later in the over, flashing a back cut for four. A mistimed pull lands well short of Suryakumar in the deep; the resulting single takes Head into the forties.
Time for drinks and a light show. We’ve all earned one. “If I were you,” says Krishnamoorthy V, “I’d have forwarded the VAR email to Mikel Arteta.”
16th over: Australia 87-3 (Head 35, Labuschagne 9) Selective sloggery from Travis Head, who sweeps Kuldeep handsomely for six. That’s a brilliant shot, and this is turning into an impressively slow innings from Head. He has had moments of fortune – Bradman would have needed the same against this attack – but he has played with striking maturity.
“Smith’s decision not to review could be critical,” says Tim Woods. “Surely it’s time for cricket to learn from football and review every decision? Time to put an end to these match-changing controversies.”
Surely it’s not practical; over-rates are already far too slow. Also, the idea that anything or anyone could learn from VAR makes my head swell in confusion.
15th over: Australia 78-3 (Head 27, Labuschagne 8) Another over with four singles for Australia. Labuschagne has slowed down the heart rate of this game, for now.
“I’m an Indian supporter,” says Deepak Puri. “I need a lie down.”
14th over: Australia 74-3 (Head 25, Labuschagne 6) Travis Head is playing a hybrid innings. There have been a few lusty slaps but his tempo has been much slower than expected. That’s not a criticism – he couldn’t keep swingingn haymakers with Australia three down inside seven overs.
Four singles from Kuldeep’s second over. The run-rate isn’t an issue – Australia need 167 from 36 overs at 4.64 – but wickets are.
“I’m not sure if Smith’s non-review was due to his personal history – the terror of being labelled selfish and above his team mates – or rather his once amazingly unerring eye now being somewhat fallible,” writes Gervase Grene. “Fact is, any batsmen with his record would usually always know where his stumps are, and where his pads are in relation to them.”
It was all a bit strange. Perhaps, because he was so emphatically beaten, he lost his bearings and didn’t want to add to any embarrassment by wasting a review. This atmosphere isn’t exactly conducive to clarity of thought either. That said, live I thought it was in line and therefore plumb.
13th over: Australia 71-3 (Head 23, Labuschagne 4) Labuschagne has to bat deep, like his opposite number KL Rahul. Easier typed than done.
He tries to cut a quicker one from Jadeja and is beaten. That aside it’s a peaceful over for Australia, who have been pummelled to all four corners of the ring in the last nine overs.
“I feel for your reader watching alone in Seattle,” writes Colum Fordham. “Here in Naples, it is only when Sri Lanka have got into World Cup finals that the football-mad city has taken note of cricket’s popularity, displayed by the thriving Sri Lankan community here. Otherwise, following cricket in southern Italy is a pretty lonely experience, buoyed only by the odd get-together with fellow ex-pat fans. I still feel this final may go down to the wire.”
12th over: Australia 68-3 (Head 22, Labuschagne 3) Replays show that delivery from Jadeja to Head turned too sharply and would have missed leg stump.
The left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav comes into the attack. Labuschagne continues his Test-match innings by driving a couple of singles to long on to move to 3 from 14 balls. Head tries to pull a short ball but cloths it to midwicket. It feels like the net is closing around Australia. But dew, lovely dew, will give them hope.
11th over: Australia 65-3 (Head 21, Labuschagne 1) Ravindra Jadeja replaces Bumrah, who bowled an irresistible spell of 5-2-21-2. And that’s after a perfectly decent first over disappeared for 15.
Jadeja starts around the wicket to Head and has consecutive LBW appeals turned down. The second was more of a celebrappeal – but Rohit Sharma decides against a review. It straightened sharply and looked a very good shout. Too high perhaps? We haven’t seen ball-tracking yet.
“So, we know Smith is not out but it stays out,” says Ian Copestake. “I guess technology is not used in cricket to provide the correct decision but to allow humans to feel even worse for their poor judgements.”
That last sentence – what have smartphones got to do with the World Cup final?
10th over: Australia 60-3 (Head 19, Labuschagne 0) Travis Head, the most attacking ODI opener in the world, was numbed into strokeless for half an hour. After scoring just two runs from the previous last 19 balls, he hits Shami for back-to-back boundaries. The first was steered deftly wide of slip, the second clubbed to the right of mid-on.
Head tries to make it three in three and almost drags a cut onto the stumps. This is so good.
“Hi Rob,” says Brian Withington. “Please let Saurya Chakraborty (feeling forlorn in Seattle) know that he is never alone when following along with the OBO community.”
If you want to know true loneliness, be an Australian batter right now.
9th over: Australia 51-3 (Head 10, Labuschagne 0) Marnus Labuschagne might be the biggest batting geek on the planet. Find someone who loves you the way Labuschagne loves batting, and all that.
I wonder if he’s enjoying this. He has never batted under such pressure in his life – but he defends very solidly to use up another over from the rampant Bumrah. No runs off the bat, but Australia got four byes when a slower ball went through KL Rahul. Even the keeper-batsmen can’t pick it.
8th over: Australia 47-3 (Head 10, Labuschagne 0) After two very loose overs, Shami has found his rhythm. Head throws everything at length delivery outside off stump and is beaten yet again, so he defends the remainder of the over. It’s been an innings of two halves: 41/1 in the first four overs, 6/2 in the next four. I’m not sure there’s a batting line-up in history that could cope with this.
“Pressure eh?” says Gary Naylor. “Might make Keith Miller revise his view.”
7th over: Australia 47-3 (Head 10, Labuschagne 0) Oh my goodness: Smith would have been not out had he reviewed! It looked plumb but the impact was outside the line. I can’t spake; I can barely tape.
Steve Smith has gone for four, trapped in front by a huge off-cutter! It was a slower ball, the first of the innings, that took Smith completely by surprise. He considered going upstairs but decided against it – the best he was getting was ‘umpire’s call’ so there was no point risking a review.
WICKET! Australia 47-3 (Smith LBW b Bumrah 4)
Jasprit Bumrah is an utter genius!
6th over: Australia 42-2 (Head 9, Smith 0) Head survives an impassioned LBW appeal from 130,000 people when he plays back to Shami. Rohit Sharma decides not to review, thinking it’s missing leg. It looked close because it hit him on the back pad, but the dramatic inwing was probably taking it past leg stump.
Head is usually an incorrigible aggressor but even he seems to have numbed into watchfulness. A safe single down the ground takes him to nine from 13 balls, which includes just one run off the last nine.
Smith defends the rest of the over, though the last ball keeps a bit low. I think India are on top now.
5th over: Australia 41-2 (Head 8, Smith 0) Bumrah’s first over went for 15, even though he bowled pretty well. His response: two overs, one run, one wicket. I never thought there would be a better white-ball fast bowler than Joel Garner; Bumrah is starting to run him close.