Sports Reporter
THE Chevrons might have failed to qualify for the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup but there was a Zimbabwean flavour in Sunday’s final as Australia stunned hosts India by six wickets in front of a packed Ahmedabad.
A Zimbabwean cricket legend and ICC Hall of Famer, Andy Flower (55) was among the winning medallists on Sunday, a deserved gold medal,
Andy Pycroft (67), a Zimbabwe cricket veteran, was the match referee.
Flower, renowned for his coaching tenure with England from 2009 to 2014, assumed a consultancy role within the Australian support staff ahead of a World Test Championship final against India at the Oval in England.
Having already secured a television commentary job with the ICC for the World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe, Flower could only join the Aussies for the later stages of the Ashes tour in the UK.
He continued leading the Aussies’ batting group at the World Cup in India and was, no doubt, satisfied with how the batsmen handled the deadly Indian attack in the final.
Australia lost four wickets while chasing 241, the fourth wicket falling just a ball before the match ended with 42 balls to spare.
Opener Travis Head (137) and number five Marnus Labuschagne (58 not out) moved the Aussies from 47/3 in the seventh over to 239/4 in the 43rd over, a defiant stand of 192 in 36 overs of a World Cup final before a hostile full house.
Flower will also be proud of the way the Aussie batsmen recovered from a disappointing end to the tour of South Africa and poor start to the World Cup to winning the tournament comfortably but without being over reliant on the same batsmen for runs.
Having been coaching in the IPL for years now, Flower also used his experience with Indian wickets to prepare the Aussie batsmen at the World Cup.