The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 final is almost upon us, with India and Australia gearing up for the mammoth event. Here’s everything you need to know.
Match Schedule
Sunday 19 November – Final: India vs Australia
A repeat of the 2003 final, where Australia won by 125 runs in Johannesburg, the two meet at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, where well over 100,000 fans will turn out to witness history.
How the teams qualified
India cruised through the group stage, finishing top on a maximum 18 points having won all nine of their matches. India's net run rate of 2.570 was far and away the best in the group stage.
In the semi-final against New Zealand, Rohit Sharma led a blazing start with the bat, rocketing with fellow opener Shubman Gill, before Virat Kohli cruised to his 50th ODI century, passing Sachin Tendulkar. Posting an imperious 397, New Zealand showed some respite largely through a century from Daryl Mitchell, only to fall 70 runs short.
Australia bounced back from defeats to India and South Africa in their opening matches, and sitting in last place on the table, before going on to win the remaining seven matches, and qualify with 14 points.
Pat Cummins' side were slight underdogs in their re-match with South Africa come semi-final time, though the Aussies made an emphatic start, holding South Africa to 24/4. David Miller's century gave the Proteas hope, though it was Cummins and Mitchell Starc who would wield their bats aloft in victory, holding on in a tense three-wicket win.
The Squads
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Prasidh Krishna, Suryakumar Yadav.
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Sean Abbott, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc.
World Cup Pedigree
Tournament hosts India are eyeing a first major ICC global tournament win in 12 years, and will have the crowd on their side on home soil, as they did in 2011.
Australia are the most successful nation in the history of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup and would make it six wins should they triumph in India.
Reserve Day
A reserve day can be taken should a result not be reached due to weather.
Prize Money
The tournament has a US$10 million pot. The winner of the tournament will take home US$4 million, with the runners-up winning US$2 million.
Teams also collected US$40,000 for every group stage win.
How to watch
The ICC’s Global broadcast partner Disney Star and its licensees will broadcast the match on a global basis.
In India, Star Sports Network will be the place to watch, while cricket’s first-of-its-kind vertical feed coverage produced by ICC TV and supported by Disney Star continues, providing fans with an easier and more intuitive mobile phone viewing experience allowing users to consume content on-the-go.
Fox Sports and Kayo will be the home of Australian coverage along with select matches on Channel Nine and 9Now. Fans in the UK can catch the action live on Sky Sports Cricket, Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Mix, Sky Showcase and digitally via the SkyGO and Sky Sports App. Primetime, free-to-air highlights will be available on Channel 5 and My5 App for the first time.
WillowTV will be the channel to watch for fans in the USA whilst coverage will also be available via the ESPN+ app. SuperSport and its app will broadcast the action in South Africa and to the 52 Sub-Saharan Africa territories. For fans in New Zealand, Sky Sport NZ is the place to be for Men’s Cricket World Cup matches.
In the UAE and the entire MENA region, all matches will be streamed Live on STARZPLAY, with broadcast coverage made available on CricLife MAX in the UAE.
Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
The largest sports stadium in the world hosted the tournament opener on 5 October, India's win over Pakistan on 14 October, and is the venue for the tournament final.
The 132,000-capacity venue’s redevelopment was completed in 2021, hosting a day-night Test between India and England, as well as the last two IPL finals.
Source: ICC
BDST: 2151 HRS, NOV 17, 2023
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