In front of 130,000 fans in the stands: Australia won the title at the Cricket World Cup in India. Record world champions Australia defeated India by six wickets and won a World Cup for the sixth time.
In the group phase six weeks ago, India was just ahead. But Australia, which also lost its second game of the tournament against South Africa after the opening defeat against the hosts, then celebrated eight wins in a row and went into the final confidently.
However, the record world champion was aware of the difficulty of the task. One expects one “Quality team” without “real weaknesses”said Australia’s Josh Hazlewood, one who “was on the rise throughout the tournament” – and has the masses of fans behind him, whether in the stadium or in the metropolises such as Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.
Host India is still waiting for title number three
Cricket, which will be part of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028 for the first time since 1900, is in India what football is in Germany: the number one popular sport. 1.4 billion inhabitants, including hundreds of millions of enthusiastic fans, hoped for an autumn fairy tale with the right winner – and now have to wait for their country’s third title after 1983 and 2011.
India became the first nation since 1979 to host the ten-team tournament alone.