A Travis Head-inspired Australia has shocked India to win a sixth Cricket ODI World Cup title by six wickets in front of around 125,000 stunned fans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
India had been undefeated throughout the tournament but were bowled out for 240 on the final ball of their innings before Head starred for Australia on his way to a match-winning 137 – after Australia had been reduced to 3/47 in front of an increasingly frenzied home crowd.
Head, with able support from Marnus Labuschagne (58), steadied the ship to lead Australia to victory despite falling with just two runs required. He became the third Australian to make a century in a men’s World Cup final, joining Ricky Ponting (2003) and Adam Gilchrist (2007) in doing so.
The opener, who was also player of the match in Australia’s semi-final win over South Africa and in the World Test Championship final at the Oval earlier in the year, had earlier taken a difficult diving catch to remove dangerous India captain Rohit Sharma for 47 off 31 deliveries, just as he threatened to take the match away from Australia early.
Italy wins Davis Cup
Inspired Italian Jannik Sinner recently completed a perfect week by sealing his country’s first Davis Cup title for nearly 50 years, thrashing Australia’s Alex De Minaur to complete a 2-0 victory for the Azzurri.
Italy’s number one Sinner produced a devastating display to outclass De Minaur 6-3 6-0 after Matteo Arnaldi outlasted Alexei Popyrin in the first singles clash.
Sinner, the world number four, ended the week with five wins out of five, including a heroic performance in Saturday’s semi-final when he beat Novak Djokovic to keep his country alive against Serbia after saving three consecutive match points.
Hitting the ball with relentless power from the baseline, the Italian dominated from the moment he broke serve early in the first set and there was nothing De Minaur could do.
Sinner’s purple patch lasted until he claimed the winning point on his third match point, sparking celebrations amongst teammates, officials and a noisy Italian contingent inside the Malaga arena.
