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Travis Head's imposing century guided Australia to a six-wicket victory against India in the ICC World Cup 2023 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Australia captain Pat Cummins' decision to bowl first on the dry wicket at the Motera Stadium raised many eyebrows. However, the bowlers and the sublime pair of Head and Marnus Labuschagne backed their captain's choice. Australia bundled out India for 240 in the first innings.
Travis Head, who was injured at the start of the tournament, displayed fireworks with the bat right from the word go during the chase. Despite Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami inflicting three dismissals in the powerplay, the Australian southpaw was unperturbed.
He found an able ally in Marnus Labuschagne, another player from Down Under whose position in the World Cup was under scrutiny. Labuschagne played the second fiddle around Head in their instrumental 192-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Head carted 15 boundaries and four sixes en route to his fifth ODI ton, second in this quadrennial showpiece. During the 34th over of the Australian innings, the opener pushed a Kuldeep Yadav legbreaker towards the point for a quick single to reach the three-figure mark.
Despite his flamboyant knock in the summit clash, Travis Head missed the opportunity to hit the winning runs. With just two runs were needed from 44 deliveries, he attempted a flat pull shot off a Mohammed Siraj short ball. It was unfortunately caught by Shubman Gill at deep mid-wicket. Head scored 137 off 120 balls at an impressive strike rate of 114.17.
Here are the best reactions from X, formerly known as Twitter, on the decisive knock from Travis Head -
Travis Head makes it to Australia playing XI despite injury woes
Travis Head sustained a fracture to his left hand on September 15 during the fourth ODI against South Africa in Centurion in the build-up to the World Cup. Despite the injury, the Australian team management didn't rule him out from their 15-member core squad.
The South Australian player missed their first five league fixtures and continued his recovery period back home in Adelaide. He made a remarkable start to the tournament with a century against New Zealand in a run-fest game in Dharmasala, which Australia narrowly won by five runs.
He didn't put up a significant score in the last three league matches (21 runs in three innings, including a duck against Afghanistan). However, Head vigorously clicked in the knockout phase. He scored 62 against South Africa in a low-scoring chase in the second semi-final in Kolkata. He then reserved the best knock of his innings against the hosts in the final.
