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.”
Inglis hails 'hard to stop' Stoinis after ruthless knock
Josh Inglis lauded "hard to stop" Marcus Stoinis as Australia signed off their T20I series against Pakistan in style, claiming a whitewash.
The hosts raced to a seven-wicket victory with almost nine overs remaining in Monday's third match.
After Australia's bowlers had limited Pakistan to just 117 runs, Stoinis ensured they signed off their final white-ball assignment in style, with his unbeaten 61 doing the damage.
Only twice has he bettered that knock in T20Is – versus New Zealand in 2021 (78) and against Oman at the World Cup earlier this year (67*).
"It's been a great week. We've had a lot of fun as a group," Inglis said. "It's been really nice.
"When Stoinis is going like that, he is really hard to stop. One of those sixes was probably the biggest I've ever seen!"
Stoinis, who was named player of the match, added: "Nice to score some runs on a beautiful wicket but credit to the bowlers who kept the total down.
"Yeah, I actually told [Haris] Rauf that this is the first time any of us got the better of him! No, he's a brilliant bowler, bowled well this series."
During their white-ball tour, Pakistan won the ODI series, their first time doing so in Australia in 22 years, but got whitewashed in the T20Is.
Despite the heavy loss, captain Agha Salman chose to focus on the positive effect the experience will have on their young players.
"I think in the middle overs, we didn't capitalise on the start," he said. "But lots of positives.
"The way Usman [Khan] batted, the way Jahandad [Khan] bowled. These youngsters will come good.
"It's obviously a big achievement winning the ODI series, but we could have done much better in the T20Is."
Salt century gives England winning start to West Indies T20 series
Phil Salt hit a superb century as England drew first blood in their T20 series against West Indies, with a commanding eight-wicket victory at the Kensington Oval.
Salt's unbeaten 103 off 54 balls was the highlight for the tourists, who successfully chased down their target of 183 with 19 balls to spare.
The West Indies endured a difficult start and were reduced to 18-3 and later 117-8, with Saqib Mahmood (4-34) and Adil Rashid (3-32) doing the damage.
However, the hosts managed 65 runs in the last 5.2 overs to finish at 182-8, with Gukadesh Motie knocking 33 off 14 balls along the way.
Salt kick-started England's chase with 50 off just 25 deliveries taking them to 73-1 after six overs, with Will Jacks (17) dismissed with the final ball of the powerplay.
Jos Buttler's first match after four months out lasted just three minutes, as the skipper was caught by Motie for a golden duck.
However, it proved a false dawn for West Indies, with Salt and Jacob Bethall (58 from 36 balls) safely steering England to victory.
Data Debrief: Salt completes hat-trick of hundreds as Bethell makes historic half-century
England put their disappointing ODI series behind them, making history with the highest T20 chase at the Kensington Oval.
Salt was the hero with his third T20I century, all of which have come against West Indies in the past 12 months.
Bethell also made history on Saturday. Aged 21 years and 17 days, he become the youngest England player to score a 50 in a T20I.
Asalanka leads Sri Lanka to ODI series win over West Indies
Sri Lanka wrapped up the ODI series against the West Indies with a five-wicket victory in Pallekele.
The hosts successfully chased down their opponents' total of 189, giving them an unassailable 2-0 in the three-match series.
Sri Lanka controlled the early powerplay - Asitha Fernando (3-35) and Maheesh Theekshana (3-25) took two wickets apiece to leave the tourists at 31-4 in the ninth over.
Wanindu Hasaranga (4-40) then claimed three of his four wickets as Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh and Alzarri Joseph were all dismissed in the space of 14 balls.
However, Sherfane Rutherford (80 off 82 balls) and Gudakesh Motie (50 not out) steadied the ship to take the Windies from 58-8 to 189.
Although Joseph claimed Avishka Fernando (9) in the fourth over, Nishan Madushka and Sadeera Samarawickrama both chipped in with contributions of 38 to get the hosts to 112-4.
Skipper Charith Asalanka (62 not out) led the charge thereon, while Kamindu Mendis (11) comfortably got them over the line with 34 balls remaining.
Data Debrief: Rutherford-Motie historic stand proves academic for tourists
West Indies were looking to level the series, but their hopes were not aided by Sri Lanka's impressive bowling.
Rutherford and Motie did their best. Their partnership brought 119 runs, which is their nation's highest ninth-wicket stand in ODI history, breaking the previous record of 85 between Yannic Cariah and Alzarri Joseph.
However, it ultimately proved in vain as the hosts secured the series with a game to spare.
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