Cummins responds to Call of Duty on big day

DEATH, taxes and Australian cricketing figureheads standing up in big finals. Even though they lost in 1975, both Gary Gilmour (5/48) and Ian Chappel (62) had played well. In 1987, David Boon was Player of the Match. Shane Warne (1999), Ricky Ponting (2003), Adam Gilchrist (2007) and Mitchell Starc (2015) had followed in that same path.

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN

Just as the floodlights began to take full effect at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday, another Australian figurehead walked that same path. Pat Cummins.

Two matches in, they were on the verge of being asked to leave the party they had come to dominate in their sleep. At a personal level, Cummins himself needed a big spell. When Sri Lanka were 125 without loss after a 21-and-a-bit overs, Cummins, who had brought himself on for another spell, was throwing a dice. At that point, he had already entertained thoughts of going back home like he had revealed in the pre-match press conference before the final. That's how he was feeling when he was bowling to Pathum Nissanka.

The dice landed in his favour. Nissanka fell off his bowling thanks to David Warner's fine, tumbling catch in the outfield. A few overs later, Cummins breached through Kusal Perera's loose defence. Australia had an inch. They took a shotgun to blow it open.