The 2023 Cricket World Cup in India was an epic clash between the 10 best teams around the world, and they provided thrilling contests. There were upsets, domination, twists and turns as the teams made their bid to World Cup glory. So let’s take a look at some of the top stories of this World Cup:
TOP STORIES
What came as an initial surprise was that two of the teams predicted to perform well—England and Australia—were struggling. Australia found itself at the bottom of the table after their first two games and England emphatically lost their first game. Meanwhile, India and New Zealand were at the top of the table, foreshadowing an enticing semi-final between the two sides later on in the tournament.
The first upset of the tournament occurred when Afghanistan beat the defending champions, England. This came as a shock to everyone and after this loss England’s descended further down as the World Cup progressed. For the Afghan fans watching at home, the win was especially important because it gave them something to smile about during difficult times battling extreme earthquakes. The next upset involved the Netherlands beating South Africa, handing them one out of their only two defeats in the tournament (the other being against India).
But all the hype regarding an India-Pakistan match (which India won quite comfortably) paled in comparison to the India-New Zealand group-stage matchup. Both teams were on a stellar run, each team was eager to give the other their first loss of the tournament. India, of course, was under pressure because of their terrible record against New Zealand but managed to break their 20-year record of not beating New Zealand in World Cups through contributions from Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami.
Afghanistan, high on confidence after their win against England, managed to win against higher-ranked Pakistan as well, giving them a real chance at making the top four—something no one expected. They also nearly beat Australia, restricting them early to 91 runs for 7 wickets, before Maxwell’s double century and arguably best ODI innings of all time brought Australia across the finish line.
India versus South Africa was expected to be a close match between the top two sides—instead, we were given an absolute demolition job by India, as they bowled out South Africa for 83 and won by a margin of 243 runs. This had an impact on South Africa’s rest of the tournament, and possibly even impacted their semifinal performance.
Defending champions England, meanwhile, found their losses building up and they remained at the bottom of the table for most of the tournament. Four teams now battled for the fourth semi-final: New Zealand, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. However, due to a significantly higher run rate than the other two, New Zealand managed to secure this final spot and made their way through to the semis.
Now, the semifinals: India versus New Zealand (again), and Australia versus South Africa. Australia won against South Africa relatively comfortably, bowling them out for 213. They were on top for most of the game, until South Africa managed to put some pressure with a few quick wickets. They weren’t able to finish it off, however, as fast bowlers Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc batted their way to the finish line. India versus New Zealand was an even more exciting contest, as India scored nearly 400 runs in the first innings (courtesy of Kohli breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most ODI centuries and Shreyas Iyer’s quick hundred), but was still put under pressure by New Zealand. However, seeing as Daryl Mitchell was the lone fighter for New Zealand, they couldn’t win the game as a team. Once Mohammed Shami was brought into the attack, things were over and he ended up with figures of 7/57, the best figures for an Indian bowler, making him the leading wicket-taker in the tournament.
And then came the final. The challenging pitch for the batters limited India to 240 runs. The ball was swinging both ways, and the conditions were something that the batsmen just weren’t able to read. Virat Kohli and K.L. Rahul both made fifties after Rohit Sharma’s quickfire 47, but youngsters Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer failed to perform. In Australia’s innings, Shami and Bumrah applied early pressure, as the Aussies found themselves at 47 runs for 3 wickets. But things changed after that. Travis Head ended up scoring a match-winning century with Marnus Labuchagne also scoring a 50 at the other end. With the Indian home crowd being shushed and amongst pin-drop silence, Australia won the World Cup, extending their record to 6 total trophies.
CONCLUSION
Once again, it was heartbreak for India as they lost in the knockout stages. Many expected India to lift the trophy as they were undefeated for the entire tournament and barely showed any weaknesses. Virat Kohli was eventually awarded player of the tournament, but you could imagine how he felt after his team lost the final. Unfortunately, Indian fans will have to wait another 4 years as India extend their ODI World Cup trophy drought to 16 years. In the end, we just have to accept that it wasn’t India’s time, and Australia was indeed the better team in the final. Only time will tell when India will experience another great run to get their hands on the trophy possibly one more time…
