In a surprising move, Australian captain Pat Cummins chose to bowl first in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 final against India at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. This decision proved beneficial as Australia restricted India to 240 in their 50 overs. The Australians, chasing the target comfortably, won the match by six wickets, securing their sixth World Cup title.
Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin shared his conversation with Australian chief selector George Bailey during the innings break, revealing insights into Australia’s decision.
Bailey explained that their IPL experience and familiarity with Indian conditions led them to prefer chasing. Ashwin cited Bailey’s reference to pitch types, noting that red soil behaves differently from black soil under lights. The Australians had learned from a loss against South Africa in Lucknow, where the red soil pitch exhibited more seam and spin under lights.
“I chatted with George Bailey during the mid-innings and asked him why didn’t you guys bat first like you always do. He replied, ‘we have played IPL for many years, toured here for bilateral series. As per our experience in India, red soil disintegrates but black soil becomes better to bat under lights. It is tough [to bat] in red soil under lights, too'” explained Ashwin his conversation with George Bailey.
Ashwin said "Australia totally deceived me personally, I had a chat with George Bailey during the mid innings, I asked him why didn't you guys bat first like you always do – he answered back, we have played IPL & Bilateral series here a lot – red soil disintegrates but not black… pic.twitter.com/kZtw54QZbk
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) November 23, 2023
Pat Cummins led the bowling attack with figures of 2/34 in ten overs, supported by Josh Hazlewood (2/60, 10 overs), Mitchell Starc (3/55, 10 overs), Glenn Maxwell (1/35, 6 overs), and Adam Zampa (1/44, 10 overs).
Despite a shaky start at 47/3 after 6.6 overs, Travis Head’s stunning century (137 off 120) guided Australia to chase down 241 in 43 overs, securing their sixth World Cup title.
