Former England captain Michael Vaughan has heaped praise on how Australia skipper Pat Cummins negotiated the first half of the 2023 World Cup final.
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Cummins started the day by making a bold call to field first in the final, a decision that copped its fair share of criticism from pundits around the world. The gist of the criticism was that Australia had given India the opportunity to do what they were most comfortable with, batting first, something they had done successfully in each of their five most recent games.
The Australia captain instead leant on how conditions have been at Ahmedabad previously in the tournament with the chasing side winning three times out of four in the games staged at the Narendra Modi Stadium earlier in the competition. Australia also had experience of bowling second in Ahmedabad a little over two weeks ago against England.
At the toss, Cummins said: “It looks a bit of a dry wicket, bowl on it during the day and back ourselves to chase whatever we need to. Dew is one factor, it gets quite dewy here at night. It feels like this venue has got better and better to bat so hopefully the same today.”
At the halfway stage it certainly looked like the right call as Australia restricted India to 240 with just four boundaries scored across the final 40 overs of the innings as the Australia seamers utilised the reverse swing on offer towards the back-end of the innings.
Incredible shuffling of the bowlers from Cummins. 11 overs, eight bowling changes #CWC23
16 – Zampa
17 – Cummins
18 – Maxwell
19 – Hazlewood
20 – Marsh
21 – Hazlewood
22 – Head
23 – Starc
24 – Marsh
25 – Maxwell
26 – Zampa https://t.co/Q4lFsCQ0qV— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 19, 2023
Cummins, who was himself excellent with the ball finishing with figures of 2-34 off his 10 overs, was proactive in his bowling changes, at one point making eight bowling changes in nine overs. Speaking on Test Match Special, Vaughan praised Cummins for his leadership.
“A brave decision at the toss but I think it’s the right one for Australia,” he said. “For the Aussies to win, chasing under lights was the way to go. Cummins’ captaincy has been exceptional, chopping and changing, he’s been backed up by some brilliant fielding.”
