Travis Head's exceptional century was instrumental in Australia lifting their sixth World Cup against India at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad. His innings of 137 runs from 120 balls included 15 fours and four sixes which shattered a billion Indian hopes. And it wasn't just with the bat that Head excelled, with his wonderful catch to remove Rohit Sharma turning the tide in the first innings. Head, who missed the first four games of this World Cup due to a broken finger, got out on 137 when Australia needed just two more to win, and even though he couldn't hit the winning runs, during the knock, Travis emulated Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist as the third Australia batter to hit a hundred in a World Cup final. Towards the end, Head in fact went into a Ponting-like beast mode from the 2003 final in Johannesburg, registering the fourth-highest individual score in a World Cup final, behind Gilchrist's 149 in 2007, Ponting's 140 and Viv Richards' 138.
Australia’s decision to bowl after winning the toss was vindicated by its performance with the ball and on the field. “It was a great decision to bowl first after winning the toss. I felt the wicket got better as the day went on. It took a little bit of spin, it paid dividends. Nice to be a part of it, nice to play a role in all of that,” Head said. Regarding India skipper Rohit Sharma, who led his team to the final by playing some excellent cricket, Head said he is probably the most unlucky man in the world. "He's (Rohit Sharma) probably the unluckiest man in the world. Again, it's (fielding) something that I worked hard on. I couldn't imagine getting a hundred, couldn't probably imagine holding onto that one. Was great to hold on to that catch. Important to look after your teammates, to be able to do that on the big stage in front of a full house is a nice thing."India's dreams of winning a third World Cup title lay in tatters after an inexplicable meltdown saw them crash to a six-wicket defeat against an indefatigable Australia here on Sunday, plunging the cricket-obsessed country into deep mourning.
