India beat Australia with six wickets and 52 balls in hand in the 2023 World Cup match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai. Watch the IND v AUS highlights.

India picked all three spinners – R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav – and Australia only Adam Zampa for the tournament opener for both sides at the 2023 World Cup.

Jasprit Bumrah (2-35) struck 14 balls into the match, when Virat Kohli held a magnificent diving catch at slip to send Mitchell Marsh back. David Warner (41) and Steve Smith (46) took the score to 74-1, then 110-2, before Jadeja (3-28) struck thrice in 10 balls.

With Kuldeep (2-42) and Ashwin (1-34) also picking up wickets, Australia found themselves reeling at 140-7 before Mitchell Starc (28) pushed them to 199.

When the Indian chase began, Starc (1-31) took out Ishan Kishan with his fourth ball. In the next over, Josh Hazlewood (3-38) dismissed both Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer, leaving India reeling at 2-3, their worst start in men’s ODIs. None of the three Indians had got off the mark.

Things would have taken a worse turn had Marsh held on to Kohli’s catch off Hazlewood in the eighth over. At that point, Kohli was on 12, and India, on 20-3. Thus reprieved, Kohli went on to make 85 before pulling Hazlewood to mid wicket.

Kohli and KL Rahul added 165 for the fourth wicket, a record for India against Australia at the World Cup. Rahul (97 not out) increased the scoring rate towards the end. When India needed five for a win, Rahul was on 91 – in other words, a four and a six would have got him to his hundred.

Instead, he timed the ball from Pat Cummins so well that it cleared the extra-cover boundary.

Watch IND v AUS, World Cup 2023 highlights:

 

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