Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], November 18 (ANI): Ahead of the final match of the ODI World Cup 2023 between India and Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, Aussie skipper Pat Cummins accepted that the crowd is going to be one-sided.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Cummins said that in sports there’s nothing more satisfying than hearing a big crowd go silent and that will be their aim.
He added that the final match will have noise and more people than other games.
“I think you’ve got to embrace it. The crowd’s obviously going to be very one-sided but it’s also in sport there’s nothing more satisfying than hearing a big crowd go silent and that’s the aim for us tomorrow. Yeah, you’ve just got to embrace every part of it, every part of a final even you know in the lead-up there’s going to be noise and more people and interest and you just can’t get overwhelmed. You got to be up for it, you got to love it and just know whatever happens it’s fine but you just want to finish the day with no regrets,” Cummins said.
The Aussie skipper added that they don’t have any huge wins at the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023.
“I think with experience, and fortunately some of that experience is playing in World Cups where we’ve been dominant. We’ve won before. I think one of the pleasing things is I still don’t feel like we’ve played the complete game. Maybe against the Netherlands, but outside of that, we probably haven’t. There have been no huge wins. We’ve had to fight for every win, but we’ve found a way to win. And different players have stood up at different times. So, I think taking that confidence, knowing that we don’t have to be at our absolute best to challenge any team we can find a way through it. Yeah, I’m sure we’ll draw a lot of confidence, all the boys draw a lot of confidence from that going into tomorrow,” he added.
India stormed into the finals after registering a comprehensive 70-run victory over New Zealand on Wednesday. After Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill’s explosive start, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer scored a ton each to put India on course to a massive target.
KL Rahul arrived to apply the finishing touches to power India to a score of 397/4. Mohammed Shami’s spell saw him clinch a seven-wicket haul to derail the Kiwis and seal India’s trip to Ahmedabad.
In the second semifinal, South Africa made Australia sweat in their chase of a humble target of 213 on a spiteful surface at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
The five-time champions slipped in the chase but recovered just in time to scrape past the Proteas.
Australia skipper Pat Cummins and speedster Mitchell Starc held their nerves to take the hosts to a three-wicket win. (ANI)
