IND vs AUS: Kohli, Rahul symphony helps India upstage Australia in ICC World Cup 2023 campaign opener
Virat Kohli, the zen-master of the uphill pursuit, found a fine ally in ‘Man-of-the-Match’ KL Rahul as the Men in Blue upstaged Australia by six wickets at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday.
Published : Oct 08, 2023 21:52 IST , CHENNAI - 3 MINS READ
Kohli (left) and Rahul’s partnership found deep roots and calmed nerves in the Indian dressing room. | Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam / The Hindu
A pulsating Sunday night oscillating between agony and ecstasy, finally culminated with India commencing its World Cup campaign on a winning note.
Virat Kohli, the zen-master of the uphill pursuit, found a fine ally in ‘Man-of-the-Match’ KL Rahul as the Men in Blue survived a nervous two for three wickets stage to upstage Australia here at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium. India won by six wickets, posting 201 for four in 41.2 overs.
Pursuing Australia’s 199, India’s chase suffered an early stutter when Ishan Kishan attempted an extravagant drive against Mitchell Starc and edged behind. Skipper Rohit Sharma departed in the next over with Josh Hazlewood darting one back in to ruffle the pad. The horrors continued as Shreyas Iyer needlessly tried to drill one over the inner circle and Hazlewood leapt in delight.
Kohli thankfully avoided his colleagues’ dirge of ducks, watching the ball closely, leaving on time, defending well and not averse to slap one past Hazlewood for four. A sliver of fortune glimmered when a charging Mitchell Marsh dropped a skier from Kohli after the batter miscued a hook against Hazlewood.
On 12 then, Kohli later whipped two fours off Cameron Green. Rahul too cut and drove Adam Zampa for three fours in the leg-spinner’s first over.
The partnership found deep roots and calmed nerves in the Indian dressing room. Australian skipper Pat Cummins ran in hard and tried to hustle the duo but barring the odd play-and-miss, he too was countered.
Kohli and Rahul got to their respective fifties before the former perished to Hazlewood with a tired pull. Kohli’s 85 (116b, 6x4) and his 165-run fourth-wicket partnership with Rahul (97 n.o., 115b, 8x4, 2x6) ensured that India got past the winning line with Hardik Pandya too adding his flourish with some big hits.
Earlier, a sweltering hot afternoon was no deterrent for the fans and while their sea of blue swept into the venue, a few yellow streaks were visible due to some vacant seats of the same colour. David Warner and Marsh strode out and the latter succumbed early, twitching outside the off-stump for Jasprit Bumrah to induce the edge which a diving Kohli caught at first slip. The old guard of Warner and Steve Smith soon combined well for a 69-run second-wicket partnership.
Warner drove and pulled while Smith found his spots. But against the run of play, Warner (41) lobbed one straight back to spinner Kuldeep Yadav. Marnus Labuschagne linked up with Smith (46) for a brief alliance that ended once Ravindra Jadeja pinned the latter to the crease and got the ball to turn just a shade and rattle the stumps. It proved to be a stunning appetiser as Jadeja soon dismissed Labuschagne and Alex Carey.
At 119 for five in 30 overs, Australia suffocated under the ‘strangle by spin’ as Kuldeep and R. Ashwin struck in tandem. Kuldeep castled Glenn Maxwell and despite the rare big shot, the tail wilted and India eventually owned the night.