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Virat Kohli and KL Rahul again displayed exceptional batting performances as India began their 2023 World Cup campaign with a convincing six-wicket victory against Australia at Chepauk.
Earlier, Australian captain Pat Cummins won the toss and chose to bat first on the slow and dry Chepauk pitch. Jasprit Bumrah swiftly dismissed Mitchell Marsh, who was out for a duck. Later, David Warner and Steve Smith attempted to build a partnership.
Kuldeep Yadav, the bowler with the golden arm, removed David Warner when he had scored 41 runs, breaking the partnership. Ravindra Jadeja later cleaned up the Australian middle-order batters, claiming three wickets for 28 runs, with two of them coming in the same over.
The Indian spin trio of Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, and Kuldeep Yadav played a vital role in restricting Australia to a mere 199/10 in 49.3 overs. Pacers Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets, while Mohammed Siraj and Hardik Pandya each claimed one wicket.
Chasing a modest target of 200, India’s top order struggled as they found themselves at 2-3, with Mitchell Starc dismissing Ishan Kishan and Josh Hazlewood removing Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer. This marked the first instance where all three top-order batters were dismissed without scoring.
Then, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul displayed positive intent and stabilised the innings. They formed a crucial partnership of 165 runs from 215 balls for the fourth wicket after India’s early struggles.
Rahul remained unbeaten with 97 runs from 115 balls, while Kohli scored 85 runs from 116 balls, guiding India to victory by six wickets with 9.4 overs to spare.
KL Rahul, for his heroic performance, was awarded the Player of the Match. India’s next match is against Afghanistan on October 11 in Delhi.
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