India kickstarted their World Cup campaign on a strong note. KL Rahul and Virat Kohli weathered the initial storm after India’s three top batters departed for a duck. Rohit Sharma praised the overall performance of the team and admitted that he was nervous at the start of his innings.
“Pretty exciting. Good feeling to come out on top. It was a good game to start the tournament for us. I thought it was magnificent, especially the fielding and we saw the effort from everyone today, conditions like this it would be tough. Our bowlers used the conditions perfectly and we knew there would be assistance for everyone, even the seamers got some reverse, the spinners bowled in the nice areas and all in all it was a great effort,” said Rohit Sharma after the match.
“I was (nervous), you don’t want to start your innings like that, credit to the Aussies bowlers as they bowled in good areas but some loose shots as well, when you have that kind of target you want to score as much as possible in the powerplay, but credit to Virat and KL on how they went about the chase. That is going to be the challenge for us as a team, moving to different conditions and adapting, whoever suits the conditions will have to come and do the job. Chennai never disappoints, they love their cricket and for them to sit in that heat and come out and cheer for the team says a lot,” Rohit added.
0, 0, 0: Watch India’s top order fall like pack of cards vs Aussie pace attack in Chennai
An icey and calm partnership between Virat Kohli and KL Rahul helped India manage to secure a six-wicket victory over Australia at Chennai’s Chepauk stadium to kickstart their ICC Cricket World Cup campaign with a win. Chasing 200, India was off to a nightmarish start as they lost the opener Ishan Kishan for a golden duck to left-arm quick Mitchell Starc after being caught at slips by Cameron Green in the first over.
In the next over, India received a double jolt from Josh Hazlewood, as he removed skipper Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer for ducks too. India was 2/3 in 2 overs and in deep trouble. Similar scenes of despair and losing quick wickets in starting overs during big matches were once again playing for India. But the duo of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul displayed the composure required for such a scenario. Run by run, ball by ball, they rebuild the innings.
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India reached the 100-run mark in 25.3 overs and Virat as well, reached his 67th fifty in ODIs. His fifty came in 75 balls. KL also reached his 16th ODI fifty in 72 balls. The duo brought their 100-run stand in 146 balls.
Kohli pulled but was caught by Labuschagne at midwicket. Hazlewood got his third wicket. Kohli was out for 85 in 116 balls with six fours. India was 167/3 in 37.4 overs. A 165-run stand between KL and Kohli was broken. KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya then unleashed some fours and sixes, bringing India near a win. KL hit the winning six, finishing off in style, India finished at 201/4 in 41.2 overs, with KL (97* in 115 balls with eight fours and two sixes) and Hardik Pandya (11*) unbeaten.
