After four boring one-sided matches, the World Cup 2023 finally produced a nail-biting contest between India vs Australia yesterday in Chennai. Luckily, India were on the winning side as they emerged victorious by six wickets. However, the Men in Blue had to sweat hard for the victory, as Australia did not give up till the end. It required a Virat Kohli special to seal a special win for India at Chepauk.
In the process, Australia’s proud World Cup opening match record came to a halt as they endured a first defeat in their opening game of the showpiece event since 1999. Also, Kohli surpassed legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar’s record of scoring the most runs in ICC events (T20 + WC + Champions Trophy) combined. Kohli currently has 2720 runs in 64 innings, while Tendulkar scored 2719 runs in 58 innings.
Not only that, but Kohli & KL Rahul’s epic 165-run stand also was the highest ever against Australia in the World Cup history. While all these records will give India and their fans satisfaction, one record they would want to forget pretty soon is the three ducks Rohit Sharma, Kishan, & Shreyas Iyer registered.
It is only the second incidence in World Cups, while all three top-order batters were dismissed without scoring. The first one occurred in 193 WC against Zimbabwe.
Also Read:
- World Cup 2023 Squads
- World Cup Jerseys of all 10 teams
- World Cup commentary panel
- IND vs AUS LIVE Score
Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, & Ravindra Jadeja give India a winning start in WC 2023
Speaking about the game, Indian bowlers restricted Australia to just 199. Opting to bat first, the visitors struggled to get any momentum going into their innings. Barring Steven Smith & Warner, the rest of the batters failed to come to the grips of a turning Chennai deck.
However, Australian bowlers managed to pick three wickets inside five overs and harbored hopes of a win. But standing in their way was Kohli, who managed to bat sensibly to score 85, and found an able allay in Rahul, who remained unbeaten on 97.