Australia's World Cup journey: From embarrassing to inspiring

Pegged at the bottom of the table after two back-to-back losses, Australia were hallucinating at the dangerous prospect of an early exit from their sixth World Cup-chasing campaign. Sri Lanka were cruising nicely with 125 for no loss and looking good for much more. Captain Pat Cummins went for another bouncer and the Lankan right-hander went for the instinctive hook. From deep square leg, David Warner , the youngest Aussie at 37, dived and effected a stunning catch.

One can say that the turnaround button was switched on that moment. It all started with a catch. In the final, eight hard-fought wins later, Travis Head replicated that Warner moment. Running back following a Rohit Sharma miscued skier, the eventual player of the match, threw himself to grasp a heart-stopping catch. The Australian story in the 2023 World Cup is dotted with such electrifying moments and periods of utter disbelief.

TOI takes a look at the Aussie journey...

• Comfortable wins against Sri Lanka and Pakistan steadied the ship.
• Big win over the Netherlands in Delhi got the net run rate back on track too.
• New Zealand and England both made Australia work hard for the points where Australia showed the grit and determination their cricket is known for.
• Afghanistan would have defeated the Aussies if not for one of the all-time great One-day innings from Glenn Maxwell . He scored 201 not out in 128 balls, battling severe cramps, to rescue the team from 91 for 7.

Against Bangladesh, Marsh scored 177 to boost their confidence.

Spinner Adam Zampa finished the group stage with the most wickets (22) while Cummins, Mitch Starc and Josh Hazlewood all grabbed double-figures in support.

Australia's bowlers enjoyed their best Powerplay of the tournament - 2-18 from the first 10 overs - in the semifinal against South Africa. David Warner and Travis Head pumped 60 off the first six overs while Hazlewood bowled throughout to finish with two for 12 from eight overs.

Head, suffering from a broken arm in the first half of the tournament, returned to the theatre like the superhero with a blistering century in Dharamshala. At 47/3, Australia were wobbling in the final. Taking India head-on, the 29-year-old took the game away with a century to continue the legacy of Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist.

Australia: WWWWWWWWWLL

Winner's purse: $4 million (A$6.15m)

LOST TWO, THEN WON ALL

1. Aus vs Ind (Lose by 6 wkts)

2. Aus vs SA (Lose by 134 runs)

3. Aus vs SL (Win by 5 wkts; Zampa 4/47)

4. Aus vs Pak (Aus win by 62 runs) Warner 163; Marsh 121; Zampa 4/53

5. Aus vs Ned (Aus win by 309 runs) Maxwell 104, Warner 104; Zampa 4/8

6. Aus vs NZ (Aus win by 5 runs) Head 109, Warner 81 , Zampa 3/74

7. Aus vs Eng (Aus win by 33 runs) Labuschagne 71, Zampa 3/21

8. Aus vs Afg (Aus win by 3 wkts) Maxwell 201 not out

9. Aus vs Bangla (Aus Aus win by 8 wkts) Marsh 177 not out

10. SEMI-FINAL : Aus vs SA (Aus win by 3 wkts) Travis Head 62

11 FINAL: Aus vs Ind (Aus win by 6 wkts) Travis Head 137