Australia win the Cricket World Cup

After dominating the competition and winning all matches but their most crucial, hosts India lost in the Cricket World Cup, leaving Australia to claim the title of World Champions for a record sixth time.

Throughout the tournament, India won each of the nine group matches they played, ending with a +2 run rate. However, when faced by Andrew McDonald’s side in the final, India unfortunately lost to the team from down under by six wickets.

Perhaps most tragically, India’s loss came on home soil

Despite this, we shouldn’t forget the remarkable achievements the Indians accomplished, such as Virat Kohli breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record by making his 50^th ODI century. Kohli added three centuries to his tally during the tournament, and also scored the most runs over the course of the World Cup with a total of 765. His teammate, Mohammed Shami, took the most wickets in the competition with 24.

In the final, Australia’s Travis Head was named man of the match for his heroics, while Kohli won player of the tournament overall.

While it is easy to focus on Australia’s victory, it is worth mentioning just how heartbreaking it must have been for India to lose after being in stellar form all tournament and clear fan favourites heading into the competition. Perhaps most tragically, their loss came on home soil, with the hosts having not won a World Cup since 2011, and before that 1983.

It will be interesting to see how the next tournament will play out

The previous champions, England, unfortunately had a rough time at the World Cup, only winning three out of their nine matches, with several important players having to drop out of the squad due to injury.

The next World Cup will be hosted between South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia in 2027 – South Africa and Zimbabwe are automatically entered in the tournament, but because Namibia isn’t a fully-fledged ICC member yet, they will have to qualify to be eligible to participate.

It will be interesting to see how the next tournament plays out, and anticipation is certainly already building. Will England get back into shape and perform well? Can India bounce back from this disappointment? And will Australia manage to defend their title, or will it be yet another team’s turn to take home the trophy?