Undefeated India eye fairytale finish at Motera

IND vs AUS ICC World Cup 2023 finalRohit Sharmas undefeated India will look to end a 10year global title drought in front of 130000 fans in the World Cup final against fivetime champions Australia on Sunday India have racked up 10 straight wins at the tournament as they seek a third World Cup triumph to add to their 1983 and 2011 victories the last of which came on home soil Despite the countrys cricket riches India are without an international title since the 2013 Champions Trophy and expectations in the cricketcrazy nation of 14 billion people have reached fever pitch However the hosts are up against an Australian side who have won eight matches in a row and will be playing in their eighth World Cup final Apart from their five World Cup victories Australia clinched their maiden T20 crown in 2021 and also beat India convincingly in the World Test Championship final earlier this year India handed Australia a sixwicket mauling in the group stage in Chennai four weeks ago where Pat Cummins side were bowled out for 199 Australia also slumped to a 134run defeat to South Africa in Lucknow but they avenged that loss on Thursday with a threewicket win over the Proteas in a tense semifinal at KolkataIndia made the final by hammering New Zealand by 70 runs in Mumbai with a redhot Virat Kohli hitting a record 50th ODI century Kohli who surpassed compatriot Sachin Tendulkars record of 49 tons leads the tournament batting with 711 runs including three hundreds Rohit is the next best Indian batsman with 550 runs and his leadership has been widely praised former England captain Nasser Hussain called him a real heroAlso ReadCaribbean spirit in MumbaiIndia also boast the tournaments leading bowler with Mohammed Shami taking 23 wickets in six matches including 757 against the Kiwis on Wednesday Despite losing to India and South Africa in their first two matches of the tournament Australia have bounced back They won seven league games on the trot with a hobbling Glenn Maxwell authoring a performance for the ages with his undefeated 201 not out against Afghanistan rescuing his team from 917 and carrying them to their victory target of 292 Legspinner Adam Zampa is their top bowler with 22 wickets with pacemen Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood who both played in the 2015 World Cup winning side peaking at the right time Starc and Hazlewood reduced South Africa to 244 inside 12 overs on Thursday after the Proteas and elected to bat first and their opponents only played catch up from that position Starc returned figures of 334 and Hazlewood grabbed 212 in the victory which set up their second World Cup final against India after 2003 when Australia raced to a 125run win in Johannesburg Sundays meeting will be the eighth between the two teams in ODIs in 2023 We have played them a lot of times so we know them insideout Hazlewood told reporters Same for them with us They have been a quality team they have been on the march the whole tournament No real weaknesses in their team so looking forward to SundayAlso ReadlsquoKohli inspires Rohit impressesrsquoIndia rode on an explosive start from opener Rohit 47 and Shubman Gill 80 as they racked up 3974 against New Zealand in the first semifinal But Hazlewood prefers to focus on the early stages of Indias chase against his team in the league game four weeks ago when India were three down for two runs in pursuit of a modest 200 to win Hopefully similar to last time we played them Hazlewood said on tackling the Indian toporder We got them out cheaply I think we made them 33 maybe so that would be ideal Tickets have been sold out for Sunday with a packed house expected and Starc said it will be loud and a spectacle of cricketWith agency inputs