Australia ended the year 2023 on a high with a Test series win against Pakistan on Friday, December 29. Australia pulled off a 79-run win in the Boxing Day match at Melbourne Cricket Ground to secure a 2-0 lead in the three-match series at home.
Captain Pat Cummins led by example with a five-wicket haul in each innings at MCG and claimed the Player of the Match in Australia's last international cricket match. Cummins rounded off the year 2023 with a lot of great triumphs and said that the year was special for him.
Apart from the latest series win against Pakistan, Australia's biggest triumph came at the ICC 2023 World Cup. Australia recorded a sixth ODI World Cup title beating tournament hosts India in the final on November 19 and also became the Test champions after clinching the ICC WTC 2023 title in June.
Meanwhile, a stellar bowling performance from Cummins and Mitchell Starc proved Australia's superiority in the Boxing Day Test. Commins highlighted 'trust and support' from his teammates when they were struggling for runs on Day 3 and said that he will remember the year 2023 as one of the special ones.
"Love playing here, Boxing Day is the biggest Test match each year," Cummins said during post-match presentation. "You've got a few options here, a bit of seam in the last few years, and I like a bit of up and down bounce. Little bit twitchy, felt okay but they were batting pretty nicely. Anything with a 3 in front of it was the aim, so we got that, felt like we had enough to bowl at but a little bit tight.
"Steve and Marsh's partnership got us back in the game, we were behind for a little while. They had their tails up, the wicket was tough. That was a huge partnership and gave us something to defend. Even at 4 for 16 the dressing room was really calm, there's real trust and support and it feels like each week another matchwinner stands up. Think we'll look back and remember 2023 as one of the special ones."
Australia and Pakistan will next face in the third and last match of the series at Sydney Cricket Ground starting on January 3.
