LAWRENCE BOOTH: Cricket World Cup highs and lows after Australia beat India to snatch international glory
- Australia triumphed over India to win their sixth ODI international World Cup
- Travis Head smashed his country to a brilliant win to break Indian fans hearts
- England bowed out of a miserable world cup and will have to pick themselves up
Indian hearts were broken on Sunday afternoon when Australia silenced a screaming Narendra Modi stadium to win the Cricket World Cup.
A scintillating 137 off 120 balls for Travis Head and a gritty performance with the ball gave Pat Cummins’ side an excellent win.
Australia lost both their opening games of the tournament, to India and South Africa, but rallied to win nine games in a row.
Defending champions England meanwhile slumped to one of the worst title defences in cricketing history.
Below, Mail Sport’s Lawrence Booth takes a look at some of the highs and lows of this World Cup.
Australia celebrate their sixth World Cup win after starting the tournament with two losses
Best batsman
Virat Kohli passed 50 in nine of his 11 innings and totalled 765 runs, a World Cup record. He also ticked off Sachin Tendulkar’s ODI mark of 49 hundreds. The tournament’s undisputed poster boy.
Virat Kohli as instrumental in India’s tournament and hit back to back fifties in the semis and final
Best bowler
Mohammed Shami didn’t even play in India’s first four matches, but finished with 24 wickets at 10, including four of the nine best analyses in the tournament. No contest.
Best innings
At 91 for seven chasing 293 against Afghanistan, Australia seemed set for defeat. But Glenn Maxwell smashed 201 not out off 128 balls, a lot of it while battling serious cramp. By the end, he was standing still and swinging, all the way to 21 fours and 10 sixes, and arguably the greatest ODI knock of all time.
Glenn Maxwell’s brilliant 201 not out off 128 balls included 21 fours and 10 sixes despite injury
Best game
New Zealand’s five-run defeat by Australia in Dharamshala, when they were chasing 389, was a cracker. But it came the day after South Africa had squeaked home by one wicket against Pakistan, with their last pair putting on 11.
Biggest upset
Afghanistan’s win over England in Delhi was trumped two days later by Netherlands’ victory against South Africa in Dharamshala. Set 246 in 43 overs, the South Africans were skittled for 207.
Biggest letdown
England. They arrived in India thinking it would all be fine, and found themselves overtaken and outplayed by almost every other major team. One of the worst title defences in any sport.
Jos Buttler’s England will be under intense pressure and scrutiny after a woeful tournament
Nothing clicked for England as they slumped to six defeats throughout a poor World Cup campaign
Most freakish moment
Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews became the first player in international cricket to be timed out, after Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan appealed while he fiddled with his chin strap.
Sri Lanka’s Angelo Matthews became the first player in international cricket to be timed out
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