By Ed Carruthers For Mailonline
Published: | Updated:
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Follow Mail Sport’s live blog for the latest score, team news and over-by-over updates as hosts India take on Australia in the Cricket World Cup final.
LIVE SCORE
Australia need 241 to win the Cricket World Cup
Warner – 7 c Kohli b Shami
Marsh – 15 c Rahul b Bumrah
Agony for Smith
It was a shock start to the innings for Australia who lost Warner, Marsh and Smith early on.
It was agony for Smith too who should have reviewed his wicket, with the ball pitching outside of off stump.
It’ll be a disappointing end to the tournament from Australia’s third-order batter, who has now failed to make double figures in three matches at the Cricket World Cup.
Travis head bites back
Travis head bites back for Australia swiping Kuldeep Yadav for a big six down to deep point.
Australia are coming back into this now. They’ve hit nine off the over and are approaching 100.
Head and Labuschagne have quietly defended India’s advances, with head pulling up a score of 35 off 42 runs.
Australia’s biggest weakness?
Right now it seems Australia are struggling to cope with India’s pressure with the ball.
Jadeja steps up with the ball and is giving Labuschagne a hard time in the middle of the wicket.
And Former Australia captain Tim Paine believes playing against spinners on sub continent pitches could be one of Australia’s biggest weaknesses.
‘Against South Africa, they were 3/64 off 20 overs against a quality of spin that is only going to go up a gear in the World Cup Final,’ he said.
‘At one stage we were 2/106 then fell to 7/193. We lost 5/87 in the middle 25 overs, and if we do that against India, the game is going to be over.’
Another review?
India are really pressing on Australia. They’re getting quite a bit of turn out of the wicket with Jadeja looking like he could have got Head there.
After deliberation they decide not to waste their review – with Australia’s power play now over.
It looked close but reviews show the ball was pitching outside the wicket.
Meanwhile, here’s a glimpse at the scenes inside the Narendra Modi Stadium…
Bumrah’s tail is up
What a game of cricket! India have rocked Australia removing three of their best batters.
But Bumrah has been the star of the show so far.
He’s certainly taken advantage of the conditions, with the ball looking a little damp now from the dewy wicket.
Kholi is egging on the crowd now and they’re responding in full voice!
Smith will regret not reviewing that!
He should still be at the crease! When he sees the replay of that he’ll be seething!
The replays showed the ball was pitching outside the line of off stump!
Yet, it was a huge wicket for Bumrah, with Kohli running to embrace the pace bowler.
Australia need to hang on here. Marnus Labuschagne has arrived at the crease in Smith’s wake – can he steady the ship?
WICKET! STEVE SMITH WALKS!
Bumrah gets another and it’s a big one! Bumrah catches Smith on the front pad dismissing him for lbw!
What a start this is for India as Australia are in all sorts of trouble!
Game on in India!
India have started brilliantly here!
Australia need to calm their attack! But the India bowlers are throwing everything at them!
What a turn around from Bumrah
After a slow start, Bumrah has bounced back to claim the wicket of Marsh.
He’s got the crowd inside the Narendra Modi Stadium rocking!
BIG APPEAL FROM INDIA
It looked like it hit Head on the back pad, but they’re not sure whether to review it!
The replay showed it looked like it was missing the leg stump and India I think have correctly chosen not to review that one.
Steve Smith steps into the middle
Marsh was trying to hit that so hard and he miss-executes the cut shot.
Meanwhile, Steve Smith comes to the crease in his place. He’ll need to bring a bit of calm to procedings here with the crowd now in full voice again.
WICKET! AUSTRALIA LOSE THEIR SECOND!
It’s Mitchell Marsh! What a fast start from India!
Bumrah bowls down the leg side and Marsh swings wildly.
He clips the ball onto Rahul behind the stumps who throws the ball up in the air in elation!
A disappointing end for David Warner
He’s had a great World Cup campaign so far, notably hitting a 104 and 164 against Pakistan and the Netherlands.
Yet, his early dismissal will come as a sour ending to his tour of India, making his lowest score so far at the tournament, returning seven runs off three balls.
India have certainly come out to attack Australia here and what a battle we’re watching out in the middle here!
HUGE SIX FROM MARSH
He’s silenced the crowd here taking a massive swing at the ball, sending Shami for six!
India throwing the kitchen sink at Australia
I would not want to face one of these balls from Bumrah, he’s throwing absolute rockets at Head and Marsh here.
Seems like he’s put his disappointing first over behind him and has the Aussie batters on the back foot.
He’s expensed one run off the last over – a great comeback for the fast bowler who has 18 wickets so far in the tournament.
Recap on India’s innings
Sharma – 47 c Head b Maxwell
Iyer – 4 c Inglis b Cummins
Rahul – 66 c Inglis b Starc
Jadeja – 9 c Inglis b Hazelwood
Yadav S – 18 c Inglis b Hazelwood
Shami – 6 c Inglis b Starc
Yadav K – 10 run out Labuschagne
WICKET! WARNER EDGES IT!
Warner edges it again! He got away lightly in the previous ball being caught behind but it was a wide!
He takes his guard again before edging it away to the slips at the off side and Kohli is there to take the wicket off Shami’s excellent ball!
He edges above Zampa to take his 24th wicket of the tournament – leading the top-wicket takers standings.
The crowd are on their feet, as Marsh walks out into a cauldron of noise!
What a start from Australia!
They really mean business! Even against the power of Bumrah, they’ve shown their intent!
Head hits another four towards forward square leg, with Bumrah conceding 15 off the first over!
Bumrah nearly gets Warner!
What a start for Bumrah! He’s come out firing and steams in with his first ball towards Warner!
The Australian opener edges it, but it narrowly falls in between India’s two slips!
It goes out for a four! Plenty happening in this first over!
‘How much do you want it?’ – Mitchell Starc
Starc took three wickets in the first innings, being the pick of the Australian bowlers.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the first innings, Starc said: ‘The way we came together in the field with the ball, it was a fantastic first half of the fixture.
On the conditions out in the middle, he added ‘There’s not a whole heap in the wicket for the swing bowlers or spinners. We’re trying to get the ball swinging. I thought Paddy [Pat Cummins] was fantastic and Josh too. Our spinners were fantastic. We did what we were asked to do.
‘We bowled second here in the England game here and it was quite dewy. I guess we’re hoping the dew comes in and we don’t see the reverse swing in the second innings.
‘There’s runs to be scored and it’s not going to be easy. It’s a World Cup final – how much do you want it?’
India set Australia 241 run target
What an innings from Pat cummins’ side! They’ve utilised the conditions, set their field up brilliantly and have capitalised on some mistakes from the Indian top order.
The hosts have set them a run chase of 241 to win their sixth Cricket World Cup.
The story of the game so far was Australia’s brilliant work in the field, taking advantage of the hard wicket.
Rohit Sharma came out firing for India but was dismissed on 47 with Travis Head taking a sensational catch to end his dangerous partnership with Virat Kohli.
Kohli would bring up a half-century before he was dismissed by the Australian captain, hitting the ball onto his own wicket.
Australia continued to advance, while KL Rahul brought up a score of 66 with some impressive work with the bat.
Yet, he couldn’t hang on in the middle, with Mitchell Starc claiming his wicket.
Starc impressed taking three wickets during the innings, with Adam Zampa claiming his 23rd dismissal of the tournament, to go level at the top of the leading wicket-takers standings alongside Mohammed Shami.
Josh Hazelwood also impressed alongside Cummins, with the pair taking two wickets each.
WICKET! ON THE LAST BALL!
It’s drama right to the end! India had to run there with Siraj scooping the ball up into the air.
It falls short of the Australian fielders, with Hazelwood receiving thee ball at the non-strikers end before stumping Kuldeep Yadav!
Siraj hits a four!
We’re into the last over of the innings, but Siraj isn’t slowing down!
He’s just struck a beautiful boundry, the first for a while, down to long off!
It’s been quiet in the stadium but he’s given the fans something to shout about!
‘Heartache in the crowd’
It’s a sea of blue inside the Narendra Modi Stadium but Australia have managed to slilence the crowd with their fantastic bowling attack.
The fans inside the ginormous cricket coliseum have been very quiet since Virat Kohli was dismissed.
‘Absolute heartache in the crowd. The silence continues as Australia are all over India,’ Eoin Morgan said to Sky Sports.
Cummins back with the ball
Despite their late collapse, Kuldeep Yadav is still swinging.
Interestingly, Australia have been bowleing a lot shorter today – will we see India do the same in their innings?
What a ball from Starc!
An excellent piece of bowling from the pace bowler. Australia are really taking advantage of the conditions…
WICKET! HAZELWOOD GETS ANOTHER!
He dismisses Suryakumar Yadav for 18 runs!
India are 227-9 with Australia baying for the final wicket!
Great over from Cummins
The captain brings himself back into the attack to finish off the first innings.
He concedes two runs, bringing up his score to 2-29.
Bumrah looked like he wanted to review that
It’s been an excellent innings from Australia. Pat Cummins has made several very smart decisions, with his bowlers performing brilliantly.
Zampa takes his 23rd wicket of the tournament – putting him tied at the top of the Cricket World Cup’s leading wicket takers, alongside Mohammed Shami.
Bumrah meanwhile, sits sixth in that tally, but was sent walking by Zampa who dismissed him for lbw.
The Indian fast bowler looked like he wanted to review that wicket too, but after a discussion with Yadav at the non-strikers’ end, he decided it would be a waste of a review.
WICKET! INDIA ARE STUNNED!
The Indian bowler has faced just three balls but can’t outlast Zampa’s spin!
It’s an excellent ball in from the Australian who dismisses Bumrah for one run with an lbw.
It’s Zampa’s 23rd wicket of the tournament, putting him level with Shami having taken the most wickets during the tournament.
Three wickets for Starc!
He’s on fire out there at the moment!
After Hazelwood got the ball moving in the air, it was a good decision to bring Starc back into the attack.
WICKET! SHAMI GOES FOR SIX
It’s another one for Starc – he gets Shami who’s only been at the crease for ten deliveries.
It’s another edge out to Inglis who has no difficulty in taking the catch.
Australia really taking advantage of the conditions, with Starc swinging the ball back into the wicket.
Rahul can’t believe it!
Starc gets his second of the match going 2-47.
But Rahul can’t believe his error! It was a tough ball to defend in fairness to the batsman, with the ball starting to swing out there!
That was close!
Shami needs to be careful!
There’s eight overs left in the innings and while India need to put some runs on the board, he’ll want to protect his wicket.
He lashes wildly at a ball from Starc, almost hitting the ball onto his own wicket.
Shami hits a big four!
Shami comes to the crease in place of Rahul and looks like he wants to get India firing again.
He swipes a lovely stroke towards mid-wicket to see India take their hit boundary in over an hour!
WICKET! RAHUL’S INNINGS IS OVER!
Rahul has impressed, helping India bring up their 200th run, but it’s a disappointing end to the innings for the fourth-order batsman.
The ball is really starting to swing here with Starc ripping a beauty in on the off side, with Rahul edging the ball to Inglis.
He’ll walk to the dressing room having scored 66 runs off 107 deliveries.
Mohammed Shami comes in to replace him.
The pitch is certainly starting to rough up
Zampa is back in attack now for Australia. Looks like Cummins is looking to take advantage of the pitch which is starting to look a little more rough around where Rahul is stood in front of the stumps.
The wicket is playing fairly slow too.
It comes as Australia have this morning expressed their concerns over the condition of the pitch, with Pat Cummins voiced his complaints to grounds staff ahead of the match…
A pivotal moment for Australia
Pat Cummins has impressed today and secured a crucial wicket for Australia earlier this morning, forcing Virat Kohli to hit the ball onto his own stumps after the batsman brought up his half-century.
71 balls since India’s last boundary
It’s nearly been an hour since India last hit a boundary.
Their last came after KL Rahul scooped the ball over Australian wicketkeeper Inglis – but they’ve struggled for momentum since.
Sky Sports are predicting them to get a score of 281.
Right now, I’d say India would take your hand off for that score with their run rate dropping to 4.85.
For context, Sharma and Gill had set a run rate of around 6.31 earlier in the innings.
Australia have a hold on the game now, with Pat Cummins’ side really slowing things up.
Pro-Palestine protester invates World Cup final pitch
And he’s in!
The TV umpire’s review shows Yadav’s foot was planted behind the crease.
Inglis though does a great job to collect the ball and put pressure on the batsman.
Australia are really baying for another quick wicket now.
Another review!
This time it’s Yadav! Inglis has stumped him from behind, but let’s see if he was out!
WICKET! JADEJA WALKS!
After surviving a review, Australia eventually get their man!
It’s a carbon copy of the previous delivery and you’d have thought Jadeja had learnt his lesson!
He swipes at a ball from Hazelwood coming down towards the off stump, and it looked to have a bit of reverse swing on it!
He edges it ever so slightly and Inglis makes no mistake behind the stumps.
Mad few minutes from Australia
Hazelwood throws one down off side and it looks like Jadeja may have nicked it.
Australia use their second review but snicko confirms the batsman has not edged the ball.
They’ve done it again!
The ball gets thrown in again after some excellent fielding but Australia fumble it!
India take their chance to steal another single at the Aussies’ fielding errors.
It gets a big roar from the crowd who have been very quiet since Kohli’s dismissal.
Poor from Australia
They’ve been so dialed in with their fielding, but they’ve been very keen to throw the ball in at every opportunity.
Maxwell darts one in, perhaps unneccessarily, to the stumps with Rahul very much in his crease, with the ball flying past the stumps out to the boundary.
Hazelwood looks less than impressed…
Rahul gets his half-century!
A great innings from Rahul who has had a lot of work to do!
He brings up his 50 having faced 86 balls today, nicking a single off Starc, deflecting the ball away to extra cover.
He’s steadied the ship for India after Kohli and Sharma were dismissed earlier in the innings.
England will ask players to leave the IPL EARLY
While we have a break in play, lets recap on some interesting news coming out of the England camp yesterday.
Matthew Motts’s side are set to ask their IPL stars to leave the tournament early next year.
It comes following their dismal performance at this year’s World Cup, with Rob Key admitting that the side had not prepared well enough for their 50-over title defence.
Kohli breaks another record!
Following his half-century earlier today, Kohli has become the first Indian batsman to score a half century in both the semi-final and final of a Cricket World Cup.
It was his sixth 50 in 11 innings at the tournament.
Starc back in the attack
Here comes Starc again! He’s 1-33 so far in this match, can he dismiss Rahul here?
The Indian batsman is closing in on his half-century after facing 79 balls.
He’s soaking up a lot of pressure for India here
NOT OUT
He’s miles in his crease. That will be Australia’s first review of the match.
Good reactions from Inglis but Rahul’s foot is stretched over the crease.
Inglis stumps Rahul… but I’m not sure its out
Australia are reviewing this!
Rahul has stepped forward to drive away a ball from Zampa and Inglis takes the ball before stumping the batsman.
It looked close in real time but I’m not sure it’ll be out. Umpires decision was not out at first, let’s see what the TV umpire says…
Cummins silences the crowd
It’s eerily quiet inside the Narendra Modi Stadium after Cummins dismisses Kohli.
A shame though for Kohli, he’s batted superbly throughout the tournament.
WICKET! CUMMINS REMOVES KOHLI
Wow, just as I was writing about the Australian captain, he’s provided a moment of magic from his side, removing Kohli.
That is a huge wicket for Australia too, they’re very much in control now!
He bowls a bouncer and it is an awkward angle for Kohli, who wacks the ball downwards onto his own stumps!
Kohli walks after hitting 54 runs off 63 balls.
A pivotal moment for Australia. Meanwhile, Jadeja comes in as his replacement.
Cummins is back in the attack!
He’s been the least expensive of Australia’s fast bowlers today going 1-16 after 5.2 overs.
Meanwhile, Kohli and Rahul are starting to build a solid platform for India.
STUART BROAD: There’s something magical about the Indian cricket team
Mail Sport columist Stuart Broad has likened the Indian cricket team to sporting greats around the world.
Should they win the World Cup, Broad believes they’ll be up there with the likes of the Brazilian national football team and Usain Bolt.
‘Personally, I think it would be great for the game if India come out on top against Australia in Ahmedabad because it will inspire the next generation of cricket’s powerhouse, just as their 2011 triumph did,’ Broad said.
‘An Indian victory is the most marketable outcome for the sport — comparable to when Usain Bolt used to line up for the 100 metres. All of athletics’ stakeholders wanted him to win because it leads to bigger sponsorship, bigger TV rights, greater exposure for the sport.’
That’s a big four!
Rahul finally gets a boundary!
It’s taken 97 balls for this partnership to find a boundary – which is credit to how good Australia’s fielders have been.
He hits a ball from Maxwell out to extra cover to bring up his first four of the match.
Five consecutive 50s for Kohli!
He reaches his half century having faced 56 deliveries.
It’s been a stellar campaign for the India batsman, who gets his 50 with a single struck down to long-on.
But Australiia are keeping him locked in here, Zampa spins one towards his off stump, and Kohli hammers a great shot to extra cover, but Australia’s fielders are just too good, preventing him from getting his fifth boundry of the match.
India’s run rate has dropped
India’s run rate has fallen to 5.27 now. Kohli and Rahul will need to start hitting a few more big shots if they are to bring up a big score.
And Eoin Morgan believes they need to start swinging pretty soon.
‘You want to see this partnership take on a little more risk,’ the former England white ball captain told Sky Sports.
Meanwhile, we’ve reached the 25th over and will have a break in play for drinks.
Kohli has dropped his helmet and donned a cap with Zampa back on the attack.
Elation for Cummins
Australia have really changed the tide here taking full control of the match.
Eyebrows were raised over Cummins’ decision to bowl first but it is really paying off for the Aussies.
The captain has also enjoyd a fine spell with the ball, dismissing Iyer having conceded 24 runs so far himself.
It was his 13th wicket at the tournament – an excellent return from the pace bowler.
In comes Mitchell Marsh
Can India take advantage of the shorter side of the ground?
Marsh steams in to Kohli and gets off to a fine start in the 19th over. He’s 0-1 after three balls and looks to be bowling quite full at the strikers pads.
Maxwell’s epic tournament
The spinner is back in the attack again and has bowled three dot balls at the start of the 17th over.
Rahul gets one away to deep cover but Australia’s fielders are really stopping India from scoring here.
While Head will take the headlines for his catch, credit should go to Maxwell for forcing Sharma to slice the ball up into the air with a brilliant piece of bowling.
It was uncertain how much of a part Maxwell would play in this tournament, having come into the event with an injury.
Yet the spinner overcame that injury and has proved to be one of the pivotal players in this Australia side, notably making history with his historic 201 innings against Afghanistan, helping Pat Cummins’ side book their place in the semi-finals of the tournament.
Can’t get over that catch!
Cummins is back in the attack! They need to get Kohli now but have just come close to dismissing Rahul.
He clips a short ball to mid-on but no one is there to collect the catch.
Despite that, credit must go to Cummins for how he’s set up his field here – they’ve stopped India from finding the boundary on several occasions already.
Looks like Hazelwood might come back into the fold to trouble Kohli again. He’s troubled Kohli in the past notably dismissing him in their previous outing.
Meanwhile, we can’t get over just how good Travis Head’s catch was. The most important catch of his career?
Are India in trouble here?
Another wicket and Australia will take control here, but they’re pressing on India now.
Despite that, India have their star man Kohli at the crease right now and he’s steadying the ship for the home side right now.
Their run rate has dropped from 7.05 to 6.81 with Sky Sports predicting a score of 299.
Menawhile, looks likee we have a couple of spectators on the pitch! We’ll have a brief stoppage in play while the pitch invaders are removed, with Kohli currently having a chat with Cummins in the middle.
Australia setting the tone
Their fielding has been really impressive during the first 12 overs.
While Kohli and Sharma have struck some excellent boundaries, Australia have really hit back here.
It’s a similar story to their semi-final victory against South Africa earlier in the week.
Starc and Cummins were the orchestrators of that win, taking three wickets each during the match.
Recap on all the action from their semi-final win here…
What an over that was!
Cummins has made another change to the bowling attack and in comes Zampa.
The Aussies are not letting up here, they smell blood and are really trying to make a dent into the Indian batting line up.
Zampa has got off to a solid start too, five singles in his first over, keeping India to 87-3.
With 22 wickets so far during the tournament, Zampa currently sits second on the leaderboard for the most wickets taken at the tournament.
More on Head’s sensational catch below.
What a catch!
Here’s the moment that could change things for Australia.
Simply sensational stuff from Head considering the circumstances.
He’s broken up a big partnership with Kohli and Sharma starting to click into gear.
The Indian captain had struck four fours and three sixes, racking up a partnership of 46 with Kohli.
Australia were looking like they needed a moment of magic to break their partnership and boy did Head come up with the goods then!
WICKET! INDIA ARE REELING
Wow Australia are on fire – three wickets in 11 overes!
It’s Cummins this time who gets it.
Iyer comes in to replace Sharma but he edges a ball out to Inglis behind the stumps who takes the catch!
Australia really coming back into this!
WICKET! HUGE CATCH
Travis Head take a bow! That was sensational!
It seems Pat Cummins’ decision to bring Glenn Maxwell in to the attack has paid off! Sharma plays a ball up into the air, with Head having to track back behind himself to get under the ball.
He has to track back quite some way to get to the ball and dives to reach the poor slice from the Indian captain.
It is a tremendous catch under pressure, diving at full stretch to reach the ball!
What a moment that’ll be for Australia!
LIVE SCORES
Sharma – 47 c Head b Maxwell
Iyer – 4 c Inglis b Cummins
Rahul – 66 c Inglis b Starc
Jadeja – 9 c Inglis b Hazelwood
Yadav S – 18 c Inglis b Hazelwood
Shami – 6 c Inglis b Starc
Cummins in to bowl
A decent over so far from the Australian captain.
He’s conceded three runs keeping Kohli pinned back on his wicket.
Hazelwood has run off the pitch
Looks like he might be heading to the changing rooms for some treatment here!
That’ll be a big blow for Cummins, with Hazelwood being one of Australia’s top bowlers so far in the tournament with 14 wickets.
Smart move from Cummins
Australia looked like they needed to switch things up.
And it’s a good start for Maxwell. He conceeds seven runs from the over, keeping Sharma, who notably sits third in the leading runs scorers rankings at the tournament, largely at bay.
Another four for Kohli!
Starc has been hammered in this over.
Kohli has hit three fours in a row to bring up a score of 54 for India.
Sharma’s and Kohli are in full flow at the crease at the moment which will be a big worry for Australia.
Meanwhile, Australia have decided to take the pace out of the game, with Glenn Maxwell coming into the bowling attack.
Kohli’s impressive stats
India’s record breaking batsman, Virat Kohli, has been phenomenal during the tournament so far.
He currently leads the way as the tournament’s top run scorer, notably breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s world record to hit his 50th ODI 100.
Kohli, meanwhile, has just stepped to the crease, and has struck two wonderful fours, opening the face of his bat to push the ball out to deep cover.
Sharma – 32 runs off 21 balls, S/R 152.38
Kohli – 15 runs off 12 balls, S/R 125.00
WICKET!
That’s a big moment for Australia! A hush descends on the Narendra Modi Stadium, with Starc removing Gill.
It’s a great ball in from the Australian pace bowler, with Gill sending his shot up in the air towards Adam Zampa at mid-on.
It’s a massive wicket for Australia who were starting to get battered by Sharma.
But they face a tough challenge now with Virat Kohli now walking to the crease…
Big six from Sharma
Fabulous end to the over from Sharma!
He’s swiped a massive six down to square leg, before hammering a four right back at Hazelwood.
He’s really leading by example this morning.
‘It just gets better to bat on’ – Pat Cummins
Speaking on the conditions, Cummins has stated that he believes today’s pitch will improve as the day goes on.
‘We are going to have a bowl first. It looks like a dry wicket. Dew is certainly a factor. What we know of this pitch is that it just gets better to bat on.
‘We had a tough start to the tournament, but we haven’t really put a foot wrong ever since. It’s all set up perfectly. We’ve played this team a lot. We are playing the same team as we used in the semi-final.’
Sharma is playing with fire!
A shorter ball comes in from Hazelwood and sharma doesn’t quite connect with it properly.
He takes a big swing and it falls short of the boundary at square leg.
Travis Head is in the region and comes in to stop the boundary but can’t quite take the catch, with the ball falling just before him.
Another missed chance for Australia!
Starc is back on strike and he forces a huge edge from Shubman Gill.
It falls just in front of the slips and Starc is in disbelief that hasn’t been taken.
Australia could have had two wickets so far, will they come to rue their missed opportunities?
That was close!
Hazelwood can’t believe it! A big swing and a miss from Sharma sees the India captain nearly walking from the crease.
The ball just glides over the stumps and that could have been close!
Sharma in full flow
That’s two boundaries in two balls – excellent stuff from the India captain.
He’s lead by example so far in the tournament and has smashed Hazelwood for consecutive fours.
His first was a beautifully taken drive to deep extra cover, before clipping his second out to deep square leg.
Some good fielding from Australia so far
Starc will wrap up his over for three and Josh Hazelwood will take the ball from him.
His first ball is not a good one though. It comes short down towards the off stump and Shama clips it towards the boundary.
Steve Smith is there to just about stop the boundary, but he seems to have injured his wrist in the process.
That will be a big worry for Australia.
Great hit from Sharma
He’s been brilliant so far in the tournament and he’s played a brilliant shot hitting Starc to deep back point.
It doesn’t quite make the boundary, but India get off the mark with two runs.
First ball… big appeal
Starc steams in to Sharma, who bats it down the leg side.
The Australian puts up a big appeal, but Cummins waves it away!
Here we go!
Looks like it’ll be Mitchell Starc getting us underway with the ball!
Breaking: Pat Cummins makes complaint over pitch
News just in and Pat Cummins has reportedly raised concerns about the state of the pitch ahead of the Cricket World Cup final.
The state of the pitch has beeen a big talking point at the World Cup in recent days with Cummins having made a compliant to grounds staff following an inspection.
Among the Australian camp, concerns have been raised that the pitch is ‘rock hard’ in the middle but rough at both ends.
Ollie Lewis has the full story below…
Head-to-head
In their five previous meetings, India have beaten Australia three times, while Australia have won two of those matches.
Their most recent meeting came earlier in October at the tournament, with India besting the Aussies by six wickets.
The 48th and final match of the Cricket World Cup
What a tournament it’s been but today’s match is set to be a real cricket showcase.
The atmosphere is building inside the Narendra Modi Stadium and we’ve just had a fly by from the The Suryakiran Acrobatic Team.
Rohit Sharma names an unchanged XI
We’re just ten minutes away from the first ball of the match and Rohit Sharma has said he’s liking the look of today’s pitch.
He told Sky Sports: ‘I would have batted first. It looks like a good pitch, it is a big game, so we need to put runs on the board. It’s going to be amazing, everytime we play here, the crowd come out in large numbers.
‘This is the biggest occasion in cricketing events. We have to stay nice and calm. It’s a dream come true to be captaining the team in the final. I know what lies in front of us. We need to play well and get the winning result.
‘You got to make the right decisions on the field. That’s something we’ve done consistently in the last 10 games. We are playing the same team as our previous game.’
India XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj
Australia team to face India
Cummins has opted for an unchanged eleven following on from Australia’s semi-final win against South Africa.
Australia XI: Travis Head, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis(w), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins(c), Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
Good morning!
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Cricket World Cup Final between India and Australia!
It’s set to be a huge day of action at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, with India looking to claim their third Cricket World Cup title, as Pat Cummins’ side look to claim their sixth title.
Stay with us as we’ll have all the commentary live updates and news coming from the match as Australia have won the toss and elected to bowl first!
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Recap on India’s innings
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India set Australia 241 run target
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WICKET! ON THE LAST BALL!
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WICKET! SHAMI GOES FOR SIX
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WICKET! RAHUL’S INNINGS IS OVER!
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Pro-Palestine protester invates World Cup final pitch
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WICKET! JADEJA WALKS!
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WICKET! CUMMINS REMOVES KOHLI
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India bring up 100!
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WICKET! INDIA ARE REELING
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WICKET! HUGE CATCH
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Pat Cummins makes complaint over pitch
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Australia team to face India
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So Australia have won the toss!
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Cricket World Cup final: Live score, team news and over-by-over updates as Hosts take the huge wickets of Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh after David Warner fell early to leave the Aussies 41-2 in pursuit of 241 to win the trophy for a sixth time




















