Australia has dramatically shattered India's dream of a third title at the Cricket World Cup. The record world champions took six wickets against the hosts in front of 130,000 fans in Ahmedabad to take the crown for the sixth time.
In the group stage six weeks ago, India had a narrow lead. But Australia, who lost their second game of the tournament to South Africa after their opening defeat to the hosts, went on to win eight in a row and go into the final with confidence.
The number one national sport
However, the record world champion was aware of the difficulty of the task. Australia's Josh Hazlewood said they expect a "quality team" with no "real weaknesses", one that "has been on the rise throughout the tournament" – and has the crowds of fans behind them, whether in the stadium or in major cities such as Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.
Cricket, which will be an Olympic sport in Los Angeles in 2028 for the first time since 1900, is to India what football is to Germany: the number one national 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 tournament on its own with ten teams.