Key Points
- The Australian men's team has won a sixth Cricket World Cup.
- The visitors defeated India by six wickets in the final in Ahmedabad.
- Australia last won the title in 2015.
Travis Head was the standout performer as he lead Australia to a sixth Cricket World Cup crown, stunning India by six wickets in the final in Ahmedabad.
Chasing 241 for victory on Sunday (Monday AEDT), Head hit 137 to help take Australia out of early trouble and to a comfortable win with seven of the allotted 50 overs to spare.
His runs came as part of a 192-run partnership with Marnus Labuschagne, who struck a controlled 58 runs off 110 balls to let Head star.
Together the pair helped silence a rocking Narendra Modi Stadium, after the previously unbeaten hosts had Australia 3-47 and staring down the barrel of collapse.
But just when it appeared Australia could fall apart, Head and Labuschagne kept their composure.
Both times, Head responded by hitting the first deliveries of their spells to take the sting out of the situation.
The left-hander brought up his hundred off 95 balls, and swatted away short balls at will when targeted by India's quicks.
He also swept both Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav for sixes, hitting four in total as well as 15 fours.
Head was eventually caught on the boundary trying to finish the game, allowing Glenn Maxwell to slog the winning runs off his first ball.
The title comes after a year when Australia retained the Ashes in England and beat India in the World Test Championship final.
Pat Cummins captained the World Cup-winning side. Source: AAP / Rafiq Maqbool/AP
"It will be a year we remember for a long, long time. It's been awesome.
"We've spent the whole Aussie winter away overseas playing playing. But we've had a lot of success."
Australia's 1999 triumph is widely considered the most remarkable of their World Cup wins, after overcoming a sluggish start to the tournament in England.
But this campaign should be considered as close to its equal.
Australia was soundly beaten by India and South Africa in the opening week, and axed wicketkeeper Alex Carey after one game.
Selectors made the call to keep Head in the squad despite nursing a fractured hand back home, while Labuschagne was only brought into the group on Ashton Agar's calf injury.
Coaches were unable to pick their first-choice XI until the semi-final stage, by which point Australia had won seven straight games to qualify.
Then in the final, they were forced to play on a slow, previously-used wicket in a sold-out 132,000-seat stadium of India fans.
And despite it all, they thoroughly outplayed the heavy favourites.
"That's just the belief that's in the squad," seamer Josh Hazlewood, who took 2-60, said.
"This is bigger than (the last triumph in) 2015. We won that at home in front of our home fans.
"But the challenges we've been through the last couple of months, coming here, playing in these conditions against India, who are a pretty special team.
"Getting the win on a day like this is amazing."
