On the eve of October 5, 2023, the grand showdown of Cricket began with finalists from the previous edition taking on each other to open a tournament that will be remembered for ages. In Lords, it had been England’s ecstasy and New Zealand's agony. But the narrative shifted as two debutant batsmen took charge against the defending champions and favorites, England, to secure a comfortable win for New Zealand.
Considered favorites by almost every pundit, England picked up a convincing win against Bangladesh to bounce off the loss against New Zealand. However, they went back on the losing side as they picked up five defeats. England's funeral was decided, and the nail on the coffin was hammered in by the host, India.
While England had an awful tournament, Australia started the tournament badly by losing their first game to the hosts, South Africa. Despite the initial setback, they managed to pull things together, beating the mighty Proteas in the semi-finals. Along with Proteas, the Aussies joined the Kiwis. The Kiwis had started the tournament hot with four wins on the bounce, but were soon humbled by the Aussies, Proteas, India, and in the DLS method against Pakistan.
Among the "unfavorites," Afghanistan delivered the best performance, beating the likes of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Dutch, and England, even coming close to beating the Aussies. Meanwhile, the Dutch, a predominantly football nation, had some say in this year's cricketing festival, as they defeated Proteas and Bangladesh and nearly beat one of the favorites, Pakistan. Overall, while the pundits gave Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh solid chances to qualify for the semifinals, they all severely underperformed. Pakistan’s highly regarded bowling attack failed horrendously, while Bangladesh performed like a wounded tiger, and the Sri Lankans just drowned in Lanka.
Each competitor struggled at some point, except one nation: India. In the group stages, they went perfectly defeating every team, and won the semi-finals convincingly. Their victories saw Virat Kohli break the record of the most 100’s in One-day Internationals, which had long been held by another Indian legend, Sachin Tendulkar. Like Kholi, the entire team seemed to have a fantastic tournament, with the fast bowler Mohammed Shami becoming the fastest 50-wicket-taker in World Cup history. Incredible performances all around for India, yet they fell short before the overwhelming home crowd of 130,000 present in the World Cup final.
For the Aussies, the game was won not in batting or bowling, but by the fielding part of the game, where they saved a minimum of 30 runs, which India failed to replicate. Overall, the tournament was an exhilarating spectacle for fans, an event to forget for some, a learning experience for others, and a moment of pride for one. In the end, the moral of the tournament is that you can never bet against an expert at their job; in this case, the Aussies playing a World Cup final. They won their 6th ODI World Cup title, which is one less than the rest of the nine nations have won combined. Domination.