New Delhi: India began their campaign in the ODI World Cup 2023 with a convincing victory over Australia (IND vs AUS), thanks to the brilliant batting performances of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul in challenging conditions. Australia had set India a modest target of 200 runs in the 5th match of the World Cup 2023 played at Chepauk Stadium, Chennai.
The Indian team chased down the target with ease, scoring 201 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in 41.2 overs. Kohli played a captain’s knock of 85 runs in 116 balls, hitting 6 fours, while Rahul remained unbeaten on 97 in 115 balls, smashing 8 fours and 2 sixes. Kohli and Rahul stitched together a match-winning partnership of 165 runs in 215 balls for the fourth wicket, after India had lost their top three batsmen for just 2 runs.
India had a disastrous start to their innings, as they lost opener Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, and Shreyas Iyer in quick succession. Mitchell Starc drew first blood for Australia by getting Kishan caught by Cameron Green on the fourth ball of the first over of the Indian innings. Kishan failed to score any runs. Josh Hazlewood then struck twice in his first over, trapping Rohit Sharma’s leg before wicket without scoring any run off 6 balls. Hazlewood also dismissed Iyer for a duck, caught by Warner off his third ball. Hazlewood finished with figures of 3 for 32 in his 10 overs, while Starc took one wicket for 46 runs in his 9 overs.
Indian spinners shared six wickets among them
Earlier, Australian captain Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bat first. However, his decision backfired as India’s spinners ran through the Australian batting line-up and bowled them out for 199 in 49.3 overs. None of the Australian batsmen could reach the fifty-run mark. The highest scorer for them was Steve Smith, who made 46 runs off 64 balls. For India, Ravindra Jadeja was the most successful bowler, taking 3 wickets for 28 runs in his 10 overs. Kuldeep Yadav also bowled well, taking 2 wickets for 37 runs in his 10 overs. Ravichandran Ashwin chipped in with one wicket for 39 runs in his 10 overs. The spin trio from India took a total of 6 wickets after conceding only 104 runs in their combined quota of 30 overs. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, and Hardik Pandya also took one wicket each.
Virat Kohli achieved a big feat by surpassing Anil Kumble
Australia did not have a good start to their innings either, as Bumrah gave India an early breakthrough by dismissing opener Mitchell Marsh for a duck in his second over. Virat Kohli took a splendid catch by diving to his left in the slips. By doing so, Kohli became the fielder from India who took the most catches in the World Cup. He broke the record of Anil Kumble, who had taken 14 catches.
Australia managed to reach nearly 200 due to the Starc-Cummins partnership
David Warner (41 runs off 50 balls) and Smith (46 runs off 64 balls) tried to rebuild the innings and added 69 runs for the second wicket. Warner was caught and bowled by Kuldeep himself. Jadeja then spun a web around the Australian batsmen. He rattled Smith’s stumps and then dismissed Marnus Labuschagne (27 runs off 43 balls) and Alex Carey (0 runs off 2 balls) in a span of three balls. Kuldeep trapped Glenn Maxwell (15 runs off 18 balls) with his spin, while Ashwin got Cameron Green (8 runs off 12 balls) caught by Pandya at mid-wicket. It was only due to the late resistance from Mitchell Starc (28 runs off 31 balls) and Pat Cummins (15 runs off 19 balls), who added 40 runs for the ninth wicket, that the Kangaroo team was able to reach close to 200.
David Warner completed 1,000 runs in the World Cup
David Warner achieved a personal milestone during his innings, as he completed 1000 runs in the World Cup. He played only 19 innings to reach this feat and thus broke the record of Sachin Tendulkar and AB de Villiers, who had taken 20 innings each to score the fastest 1000 runs in the World Cup.
