Batting on 54 off 62 balls, Kohli had partnered with KL Rahul to stabilize the Indian innings after a shaky start at 81/3. However, Cummins managed to get Kohli to play onto his stumps with a well-directed delivery, causing a hush to fall over the world’s largest cricket stadium. The Australian team paused for a moment to acknowledge the impact of Kohli’s dismissal on the crowd.
“We took a second in the huddle just to acknowledge the silence that was going around the crowd (after Virat Kohli’s wicket),” stated Cummins. “It just felt like it was one of those days where it was all made for him (Kohli) to score another hundred like he normally does. That (wicket) was satisfying,” he added.
Interestingly, a day prior to the match, Cummins had expressed his desire to silence the crowd. “The crowd is obviously going to be very one-sided, but in sport, there’s nothing more satisfying than hearing a big crowd go silent, and that’s the aim for us,” he had stated.
Despite Kohli’s and Rahul’s half-centuries (66), India could only manage to post a total of 240 runs after being asked to bat first by Australian skipper Cummins, who won the toss. Australia had a shaky start, finding themselves at 47/3. However, opener Travis Head partnered with Marnus Labuschagne (58) and went on to score a match-winning century (137), helping Australia claim their sixth ODI World Cup trophy with a six-wicket victory.