Sports Bulletin Report
Chennai (India): Hosts tigers India outclassed Australia by 6 wicket in their opening contest of Cricket World Cup 2023 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Sunday, as top class batters Virat Kohli and KL Rahul led their team to victory while chasing a tricky target of 200 despite the early loss of three batters. Chasing a tricky target of 200, India lost three batsmen, who all failed to score, inside two overs before Kohli (85) and Rahul (97 not out) put on 165.
Chasing a below-par 200-run target, India managed to cross the line with the loss of four wickets in 41.2 overs. After losing three wickets with only two runs on the board during the first two overs, KL Rahul (97 not out) and Virat Kohli (85) put on 165 runs match-winning partnership to guide the home side to victory.
After losing Mitchell Marsh early, David Warner and Steve Smith steadied the ship with a solid 69-run partnership. After that, Indian spinners kept Australia on the back foot by taking wickets at regular intervals.
Australian tail waged and the team managed to put on some runs on the board for their bowlers. Steve Smith was the top scorer with 46 runs followed by David Warner who scored 41 runs. Mitchell Starc scored 28, Marnus Labuschagne 27 and Glenn Maxwell and Pat Cummins 15 runs each.
Ravindra Jadeja bagged three, Kuldeep Yadav and Bumrah two each while Mohammad Siraj, Ashwin and Pandya took one wicket each.
There was a forced change in the Indian top order as the first-choice and second-ranked ODI batsman Shubman Gill failed to recover from the injury before the start of play. Left-handed batter Ishan Kishan was put in to open the batting along with skipper Rohit Sharma.
India XI: R Sharma (capt), I Kishan, V Kohli, S Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), H Pandya, R Jadeja, R Ashwin, J Bumrah, K Yadav, Muhammad Siraj.
Australia XI: D Warner, M Marsh, S Smith, M Labuschagne, G Maxwell, A Carey (wk), C Green, P Cummins (capt), M Starc, A Zampa, J Hazlewood.
