India-Australia KL Rahul's stylish 97 no, Virat Kohli's heroic 85, help India beat Australia by 6 wickets in World Cup clash
KL Rahul's stylish unbeaten 97 runs knock and Virat Kohli's heroic 85 helped India defeat Australia by six wickets in their World Cup opening game in Chennai on Sunday.
After bowling out Australia for 199, Indian batsmen, after losing three quick wickets, recovered to reach the winning target of 201 runs for the loss of four wickets with 52 balls to spare.
Australians came out with all their guns blazing and made things difficult for India initially by picking up the wickets of skipper Rohit Sharma (0), Ishan Kishan (0) and Shreyas Iyer (0).
India were struggling at 3/2 after the end of second over.
Kohli and Rahul anchored the innings after the initial jolts and added a match-winning 165 runs partnership to ensure victory.
Virat missed his century and was Hazlewood at 85. He hit six boundaries in his knock.
With eight boundaries and two sixes, Rahul remained unbeaten till the end and ensured India crossed the target comfortably.
Hardik Pandya added 11 unbeaten runs with his willow.
Josh Hazlewood remained the pick of the Australian attack as he took three wickets by giving away 38 runs.
Indian spinners led by Ravindra Jadeja's three-fer rattled Australia by dismissing them for 199 in 49.3 overs in the 5th match of the ICC Men's ODI World Cup here on Sunday.
The spinners shared six wickets among themselves with Jadeja picking up three, Kudeep Yadav two and Ravichandran Ashwin a wicket. Jasprit Bumrah was solid as he scalped 2 wickets for 35 in 10 overs, and was ably supported by Mohammed Siraj and Hardik Pandya who finished with a wicket each.
Jadeja was the wrecker-in-chief as he quickly removed Steven Smith (46), Marnus Labuschagne (27) and Alex Carey (0), leaving Australia tottering at 119/5 in 29.4 overs.
Australia lost Mitchell Marsh (0) early to a beautiful ball off Bumrah which saw him edging to Virat Kohli who dived in the air to catch it.
Warner and Smith handled the situation sensibly, and the latter was looking dangerous, but the southpaw's dismissal provided the much-needed breakthrough for India.
After Warner's departure, the Indian spinners took over. Jadeja bowled a beauty to get rid of Smith and then the Australian top-order fell like a pack of cards.
Slipping from 110/2 to 140/7, things looked bleak for Australia, but the lower-order clung on to add another 59 runs.
Mitchell Starc scored a useful 28 before Australia's innings folded.
Chasing on this pitch might be a dicey affair as Indian spinners were getting grip out of it, and at times oddballs bouncing.
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