Live Cricket Score: India vs Australia, Final, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023

Follow live updates and highlights of the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 between India and Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Lay out the carpet, bring out the trumpet - Australia are ODI World champions for the SIXTH time!

It might sound like an overused term but there's nothing that describes tonight's Australian performance more than the term 'clinical'. They were up against the best team of the tournament and 1,30,000 people mocking and jeering them at every slip-up. Except, Australia barely had any slip-ups. Cummins was expectedly asked about the daunting task of playing in front of cauldron like this, and on hindsight, may have uttered words you could immortalize. The crowd's obviously going to be very one-sided but it's also in sport there's nothing more satisfying than hearing a big crowd go silent and that's the aim for us tomorrow.

"The crowd's obviously going to be very one-sided but it's also in sport there's nothing more satisfying than hearing a big crowd go silent and that's the aim for us."

Australian players took that so seriously that they didn't even have a full capacity crowd to silence by midway through the chase. Everything that could work well, did for Cummins's side, including his own incredible bowling where he didn't concede a boundary. Beyond the PowerPlay, boundaries dried up so badly for India that it kick-started their downfall in the game. Between overs 11 to 40, India scored just two fours. Their total of 240 was slightly under-par, but Australia were further helped by the onset of dew, which was anticipated anyway. Travis Head, saw past the early trouble that Bumrah caused, flirting with the outside edge of his bat, to score a sensational century. In the space of six months, he's now got hundreds against India in two ICC finals (WTC final in June). Australia just channelled their big game energy and unleashed it on an Indian team that has been the best in the World Cup by a margin. This is just how cruel knockout sport can be, as Rohit Sharma and co. realise today.

They were spot on with all their plans through the tournament. They aced challenges batting first, they pulled off big chases. They found a way around a big injury and had a back-up seamer light up the tournament. On the grandest stage of all, however, the batting came unstuck even as Rohit gave them yet another big start. The batting through the middle-overs stagnated and it came back to haunt them. India still made a great start with the ball, tails up, crowd bouncing and three wicket in tow by the seventh over. It's going to take a while to get over this World Cup final defeat.

We'll leave you with this incredible narrative: Australia started their World Cup with defeats to India and South Africa, went to the bottom of the points table, won seven straight games to reach the semis and then beat the same two sides - South Africa and India - to win the crown!

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Take a bow, Travis Head!

He becomes just the second player after Aravinda de Silva to score a century in chase in a World Cup final.

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Head has flattened the table-toppers

One of the last throws of the die from Rohit came when he brought back Bumrah in search of the elusive breakthrough but that just didn't come. Instead, what they got was unlucky with an LBW call that was umpire's call and Head taking apart the pacer's repeated slower balls. Head whacked three fours in a 14-run over that told you all you needed to know about where the game was headed.

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Game slipping away from India

The conditions have complete eased out and the two batters have settled in. After his initial struggles, Travis Head has brought up his half-century here. India appear to be out of options at the moment as Australia chip away at the target.

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Head, Labuschagne make controlled progress

Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja are going at the two batters in tandem but without any luck. Head has decided to camp deep in the crease, just pinching ones and twos every now and then. Labuschagne has been more passive but the early brisk rate has given Australia the cushion to get past this period without risks before dew comes to their rescue soon.

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Exhillirating start

Rohit has gone for full attack in the PowerPlay and returned with three wickets. He'd probably have like one more but this is still a pretty good start. Bumrah and Shami have bowled five overs each in the quest to take out the top-order before dew can play intruder here. At 60/3, this is a shared phase.

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Steve Smith is gone... with some luck for India!

Bumrah unfurls a vicious cutter and Smith doesn't get behind the line while trying to defend on the backfoot. It ducks in sharply and hits him on the front pad and the umpire agrees with India's loud appeals. While they celebrate, he could've and absolutely should've taken the review but he didn't. Replays showed the impact of the ball hitting the pad would've been outside the off-stump. But Smith somehow decided it wasn't worth it and walked off. A bit of luck for India, but they've needed it badly today. Australia are 47/3 in 7 overs.

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Bumrah gets one!

He bowls a short of length ball outside the offstump, giving Marsh the chance to play a cut. Rohit also pushed the mid-off to long off, cutting out a scoring avenue there so the big-hitter had to look elsewhere. His eyes perhaps lit up on seeing the length of that ball and he went for a big heave, but an underedge went to KL Rahul behind.

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The double-edged sword

Shami has given what Rohit needs but also what India just don't. He's struggled to control the swinging white-ball and the result has been a handful of extras. This is a tough and delicate balance between attacking and holding back when you don't have a very big total in your hands but so far this has worked in Australia's favour despite the wicket. They've raced away to 41/1 in 4 overs.

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Rohit Sharma's Hail Mary!

Mohammed Shami opens the bowling with Bumrah, instead of Siraj, and strikes in his first over. Granted it was an innocuous ball but India won't care. They'll take it. Warner went chasing after a ball well outside the offstump and nicked to Kohli at first slip. India are pumped. The Modi stadium is bouncing.

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15 runs off the first over

If you're an Indian cricket fan that's lived through the late 90s and early 200s, that over couldn't have been an easy watch. Bumrah got Warner to nick the first ball but it went between Kohli and Shubman at first and second slip four a four. Head got a four off it too to complete a 15-run over. Those are as many runs Zaheer Khan conceded in the first over of the 2003 World Cup final against Australia.

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Innings End: India 240 all-out in 50 overs

So that's that then from India's batters. Is that sub-par? Is that enough to put pressure of the occasion on Australia? Can early strikes change the course? Can early blitz bring an quick end? Even on this slow-ish surface that looks a little short but you can't quite predict what the pressure of a big game could do. India still have an exceptional bowling attack that will go hard up top for early wickets to put pressure and dent Australia before dew can make its presence felt. Australia meanwhile might try to fly off the blocks via Travis Head and David Warner.

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Meanwhile, doff your hat to Pat Cummins. This is an all-time great captaincy performance in a World Cup final - all his bowling changes worked, all his field placements worked and he finished with figures of 10-0-34-2 with not a single boundary conceded

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India's combination comes back to haunt them?

What a terrible game for that to happen. For large parts of this World Cup, India have benefitted from the Hardik Pandya situation. The unicorn profile in Indian cricket got injured and that paved the way for Mohammed Shami getting games. But the flip side of this equation is that on a bad batting day, their long-tail could get exposed in the absence of an allrounder like Hardik. Suryakumar Yadav should've still been a solid addition to that middle-order batting but the slow pitch and Australian bowlers digging their cutters into the pitch took his strokeplay completely out of the equation. Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah made brief appearances and Suryakumar swung his bat around targetting his favourite third man and fine leg region, but only swatted air before getting out caught behind for a 28-ball 18. Unfortunately for an incredible gun ODI side, the one thing that could trigger a collapse has come at the worst possible game of them all.

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Starc stuns Ahmedabad

Australia are now making it a habit of shushing the partizan crowd here. Mitchell Starc comes back at the start of the death overs, goes round the stumps to Rahul and uses the angle well to get an impeccable length ball to pitch and straighten. Rahul can't help but nick it. This exposes India's long tail.... but Shami has arrived and glanced the left-armer to the fine-leg fence.

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39 after 26.2...

Suryakumar cuts a Zampa ball behind point to bring up India's SECOND four outside of the PowerPlay. It's been quite a grind for them this evening.

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End of Jadeja's struggle

Josh Hazlewood nicks off the left-hander, putting him out of his 22-ball misery. Massive hour for Suryakumar Yadav's ODI career coming up.

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A laboured half-century for KL Rahul

It's taken him time - 86 balls to be precise - but he's got there. India need him to make it count by batting deep and finding the next hitting gear.

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India's innings progression:

First 10 overs: 80 Runs | 2 Wickets | 8.00 Run Rate | 9x4, 3x6

Next 20 overs:72 Runs | 2 Wickets | 3.60 Run Rate | 1x4

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Silence again in Ahmedabad...

Virat Kohli has chopped one on from Pat Cummins. That's come very much against the run of the play. He was looking to take a lot of runs dabbing the ball to third man like he always does but this time the ball rose on him and the inside edge has gone onto hit the stumps. Silence again in the colessium.

Virat Kohli in ODI World Cup 2023

Innings: 11 | Runs: 765 | Avg: 95.62 | SR: 90.31 | 50s: 6, 100s: 3

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Rahul's paddle scoop against Maxwell gives India their first four in *checks notes* NINETY-SEVEN balls!

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Kohli can't stop scoring runs

This is Kohli's fifth successive half-century in the World Cup. Incredible accumulation from India's No.3

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A slow rebuild for India...

Australia are sneaking in overs from Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head here. As much as Rohit's exit dented India, they have missed Shreyas against spin in the middle. He would've perhaps taken far more risks and gone after the spin bowling and made life tough for Cummins the captain in the middle. Right now, he's executing his bowling plans to perfection.

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Since Shreyas Iyer's dismissal...

... time has gone by very slowly if you're an India fan. KL Rahul and Virat Kohli have hit 38 runs off 64 balls since Iyer departed and there hasn't been a four or a six in this phase. Australia are putting in the squeeze on this slow surface.

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Exceptional from Pat Cummins

This has been a tough pitch to bat on and the Aussie captain has used his cutters so well. He's continuously take the pace off the ball, and Kohli has gestured to KL Rahul that the ball is stopping before coming. Two-paced pitch? Looks like what he's indicating.

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Shreyas Iyer is gone

There's discomfort and anxiety in the Ahmedabad air now. Shreyas Iyer - the man with two scintillating centuries in his last two games - is gone for 4. Lovely length from Pat Cummins just outside the off-stump, leaving Iyer tentative in his crease. He couldn't let it go, and ended up nicking it behind. This is going to be a real test of India's batting capabilities this tournament.

Rohit Sharma in the ODI World Cup 2023

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Glenn 'golden arm' Maxwell

He's got Rohit. You could probably say Rohit's got Rohit here too. Maxwell got his second over in the last of the PowerPlay and Rohit took it on himself to squeeze out as much as he could before the field spreads out. He gave him the charge to hit a six over long-on, then stayed deep in the crease to cut him for a four. Rohit went for the attack on the third ball too, jumped out of the crease to try a big shot but sliced the ball. Travis Head ran backwards from cover-point and took an exceptional diving catch. What a moment for Australia. Their fielding has been top-notch from the start.

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4 4 4 and an applause!

The short ball is not out against Kohli yet. Starc has rather gone full and length against him and watched the ball run away to fours all around. The first of the three was of streaky as he looked to flick over mid-on and his bat turned in his hand. But the next two were pristine. First a drive off the backfoot, and then a couple of steps outof the crease to hit to the left of cover. Rohit - India's PowerPlay belter - enjoyed that.

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What's in store for milestone man?

That Gill wicket brought a wave of emotion in Ahmedabad. There was a sudden silence once Zampa pouched the take and Australia celebrated but they volume cranked up almost as suddenly, when the 50 100s man Virat Kohli walked out. Hazlewood and Starc attempted a lot of short balls in the Chennai game. More of the same today?

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Shubman Gillc Zampa b Starc 4 (7)

Starc breaks through. Rohit's opening partner, who'd spent majority of the first four overs parked at the non-striker's end, thought he should chip in too and unleashed his go-to short-arm jab on a length ball. But he couldn't hit it past Adam Zampa at mid-on.

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We told you... (about Hazlewood vs Rohit)

Hazlewood pushed point to the deep, and the third man fielder came in to protect that offside field against the India captain. But Hazlewood bowled it short enough for Rohit to unfurl hisshot - the swivel pull deep into the square leg stands. The genius though is not in putting away the one ball you're very good at putting away, but to not rest of that mini-laurel and make the bowler change plans constantly. Hazlewood went short again and Rohit gave him the charge and pulled the ball down the ground to the left of the mid-on fielder.

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Rohit vs Hazlewood is going to be fun...

The Indian opener is going to go after Australia's impeccable length specialist. First he's stepped out and carved open the offside field and then stood his ground and pulled unconvincingly and still picked up a four. This is Rohit's way of saying Go on Mr. Josh, change your lengths.But Mr. Josh doesn't do that, he sticks to his guns and nearly wipes out Rohit's stumps as he takes a blind swipe across the line. This could brew into a fun tussle in this PowerPlay.

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Mitchell Starc is an optimistic man. He's appealed first ball for an LBW against Rohit Sharma when it shaped enough to go well down the leg side. There's early movement for him and Australia are electric on the field. Good first over.

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First scenes from the colesseum

It looks massive. It looks packed. It looks blue.

To even say Pat Cummins and his side have some form of support here would be an exaggeration. There are rare specks of yellow in the midst of an ocean of blue. You can expect the decibel levels can go even higher than it already did during the national anthems if Rohit does what Rohit has been doing all World Cup.

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Interesting call from Cummins. Big games are almost always about bat first, put runs on the board and make it look far more than it already is while defending it. The pressure of the situation almost always closes in on chasers but Cummins clearly thinks otherwise and feels his side is better off doing that.

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Toss: Australia win toss; opt to bowl. No changes for both teams. This means Ashwin stays on the bench and Siraj keeps his spot.

Thoughts before the day before D-day...

Rohit Sharma may want to do it for Rahul Dravid, and there are a billion expectations on the Indians, but Australian captain Pat Cummins does take pleasure in silencing a big crowd, as he said in his pre-match press conference. However, Mitchell Starc summed it up nicely after the second semi-final - neither of the sides are strangers to big occasions.

On the other hand, we look at more pitch Shenanigans, as Bharat Sundaresan writes about India potentially testing Australia with a trial by spin in Ahmedabad. For a final shot at trying not to chew your nails, here's a head to head between India and Australia in World Cup cricket.

Scenes from the stadium

Time to ease some of the tension, and unpalatable satire, with some valuable reading time. Let's begin with Kaushik Rangarajan's preview of the summit clash, and Deepu Narayanan's statistical preview.

Prelude - Two ODI titans, one piece of gold (and silver)

We're back. Back at the Ahmedabad stadium, 45 days after it began right here. And the anticipation is expectedly through the roof.

There's India on one side, strutting in with their cloak of invincibility still intact and the expectation of it still being on when the victor's name is etched on the trophy a few high-octane hours later. They've dominated league stages at World Cups before only to trip up in the knockouts, but this time feels different. The limitless layers to their ability adds a touch of inevitability to what they're going to achieve tonight.

Speaking of inevitability, say hello to Australia. Yes, they're here again, looking greedily towards what could be their sixth World Cup title in the format. They nearly tricked you into thinking they are ODI mugs and then went all gotcha' with eight wins on the bounce. Add a ninth to that tally? Why not, they'd say. It'll sit well with their ODI legacy.