The Cricket World Cup 2023 final is all set to witness a tantalising match-up between India and Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The much-anticipated clash will commence at 2:00 PM IST. Talking about their road to the final in the 2023 edition, the two teams have lived up to their favourites tag with a string of dominant performances along the way. While Team India has kept their 100% record intact with 10 wins out of 10 matches, Australia have enjoyed an eight-game winning streak ahead of the summit clash.
As far as their head-to-head record in the ODI World Cup history is concerned, the two cricketing heavyweights have faced each other on 13 occasions so far, with Australia leading with eight victories. The Indian cricket team emerged triumphant in the other five encounters.
The two sides faced off for the first time at the mega event during the group phase of the 1983 edition, the same year when India won their first-ever World Cup trophy. Nonetheless, Australia won that match by 162 runs to flag off one of the greatest rivalries in the history of the competition.
Ahead of the Cricket World Cup 2023 final, let’s delve deep into the other head-to-head records involving the two teams.
Highest team total
The 300-run mark has been breached on multiple occasions, indicating a run fest whenever these two teams have faced each other.
Australia’s 359/2 in the 2003 final stands as the highest team total in India vs Australia head-to-head meetings in the ODI World Cup.
Batting first, the Australian top-order trio of Adam Gilchrist (57), Ricky Ponting (140*) and Damien Martyn (88*) took the Indian bowlers to cleaners en route to the mammoth total, defending it comfortably to clinch their third title at the quadrennial competition.
Lowest team total
India’s 125/10 against Australia in the group phase fixture of the 2003 edition is the lowest team total.
Electing to bat first, India’s mediocre performance saw them muster an ordinary total, with Sachin Tendulkar top-scoring with 36 runs. Thereafter, the Ricky Ponting-led side chased the total comfortably with nine wickets to spare.
Highest individual score
A total of eight centuries have been recorded over the years in the 13 matches so far in the tournament’s history, with Ricky Ponting’s unbeaten 140 off 121 balls in the 2003 final being the highest.
The Aussie skipper led from the front, smashing four fours and eight maximums, to help his side post a monumental total of 359/2. The bowlers did their job to defend it and become the most successful team in the tournament’s history, bagging an unprecedented third crown.
Best bowling figures
Amidst a host of fantastic bowling heroics, only three players have managed to pick one five-wicket haul each, with India’s legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev becoming the first to accomplish the feat in the first-ever meeting of the two teams in the 1983 World Cup.
However, the same group stage match saw Australia’s Ken MacLeay outclass the Indian batting line-up, with his spell of 6/39 pushing the Kapil Dev-led side to a 162-run defeat.
Closest winning margin
A few matches have gone down to the wire, with one team agonisingly close to winning a thriller.
Interestingly, Australia have twice won by a margin of one run, first in 1987 and later in 1992.
In the third fixture of the 1987 World Cup, India and Australia squared off at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk. The Australian cricket team won the clash by one run, with Geoff Marsh being named the Player of the Match for a terrific century.
The next edition saw Australia repeat the same feat, as skipper Mohammad Azharuddin’s herculean effort, a 93-run knock while chasing 235, went down the drain.
As the two teams gear up to take centre stage in the Cricket World Cup 2023 final, these are some of the records that are at stake of getting broken, with history set to be rewritten at the world’s largest cricketing venue.
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