‘All stats said bat first…’: Warner reveals why Australia opted to bowl after winning toss in World final vs India

Australia winning the toss and choosing to bowl first in the 2023 World Cup has been seen as a key factor in their victory against India

India may have gone into the World Cup final against Australia as outright favourites based on the fact that they were playing at home and they had dominated every team they had faced in the run-up. However, they could replicate that dominance only in little patches throughout the match with a clinical Australia outplaying them with bat and ball and winning the match by six wickets. Pat Cummins' side thus won the tournament for a record-extending sixth time.

Pat Cummins had won the toss and chose to chase in the 2023 World Cup final (AFP)

While India captain Rohit Sharma had said at the toss that losing it didn't matter, Australia winning it and choosing to chase has since been seen as one of the factors that aided in their victory. Opening batter David Warner has now said that Australia had in fact thought about batting first if they won the toss the night before the final but they changed their minds on the day itself.

“They were discussing it the night before for a good hour and a half or two hours about what to do.” Warner told South Africa great AB de Villiers on the latter's Youtube channel. “All the stats coming through was saying, bat first and put runs on the board. But for once, when we got all got asked that question, I think a majority of us said let's just chase.”

Warner said that the team decided it is better to understand the conditions thoroughly before walking out to bat and the situation would be helped if they did well with the ball. “If we bowl well and understand the conditions like that, we can then chase and then anchor,” he said.

India were all out for 240, with Australia starving them out after they shot off 80 runs in the first 10 overs. While Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami then got the hosts off to a promising start in their defence, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne shut the door with 192-run stand. Head scored 137 in 120 balls while Labuschagne was unbeaten on 58 off 110 and Australia took the match by six wickets. Warner said that Labuschagne's innings was exactly the kind of thing they hoped they would be able to do if their plan of bowling first paid off.

“What Marnus did was absolutely perfect. You look at when we played India in the first game. I think they were 3/4 (2/3) but then Virat did what he does, KL Rahul as well. They were ice calm. When you know what to get, your best batters generally thrive. They will play the tempo of the game,” said Warner, referring to the first match of the tournament between Australia and India. At the time, India had blown Australia away for 199 but were themselves reduced to two runs for the loss of three wickets. However, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul then put up a 165-run stand that ended any chances that the Australians had.

“That was Pat Cummins' best spell of the tournament”

Warner was all praise for Cummins for the way he led the team in the tournament and the way he seeded doubts in the minds of the Indian batters with his tactics in the final. “He has been so calm the whole time. He was criticised in England for his fielding placements, being defensive and all that. Here as well, he cops it again for the slow start. It's not fair. I get that as a captain he is leading the ship but as a whole unit, we take responsibility ourselves. Yesterday was a testament to that in terms of the way we went about it,” he said.

Warner also said that Cummins's spell itself was the best he had seen from him in the entire tournament. Cummins recorded figures of 2/34, getting the key wickets of Shreyas Iyer and Kohli. “Yesterday was unbelievable the way he bowled. That was his best spell in the entire tournament. The great players stand up when it's time to deliver and yesterday he did that,” said Warner.