Rahul And Kohli Lead India To The Tournament’s First Victory
At the halfway point of the match on Sunday, the fanatical Chepauk crowd’s loud scream was replaced by a moment of stunned quiet. The cause? India was reduced to 2/3 in two overs after Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Shreyas Iyer all went without scoring. After India had skittled Australia for 199 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, thanks to an impressive bowling performance spearheaded by their spinners, it wasn’t intended to be this way.
However, do the Australians ever submit without a struggle, especially during a World Cup? Virat Kohli and KL Rahul experienced several nervous moments in the events that followed. None made Kohli more anxious than when, while on 12, Josh Hazlewood misjudged a pull and the ball appeared to linger in the air for an age. Mitchell Marsh rushed in from square leg but fumbled the catch. The crowd breathed a sigh of relief when the ball landed on the grass.
In the initial burst, Mitchell Starc and Hazlewood had their fair share of deliveries that claimed wickets, but they also benefited from some careless shot choices made by the Indian top order. Starc’s full-away swinger, which may have been left alone, was attacked by Kishan. Iyer swung carelessly at a Hazlewood length ball, which David Warner at cover eagerly held on to.
Even Kohli initially took risks with his shots. His erratic drives might have easily found their way into the palms of the hungry slip fielders on another day. Marsh would have persisted on another day. However, today wasn’t that day. Instead, Kohli and Rahul managed the difficult phase to put together a game-changing partnership of 165 runs off 214 balls by combining grit and grace in equal measure. India’s six-wicket victory in their World Cup opener match was made possible by it.
The audience, which had initially been uneasy during India’s innings, found its voice once more in the 15th over thanks to Kohli’s back-to-back flicks through midwicket for boundaries. The official attendance was 32,531. More applause was heard as Rahul smacked Adam Zampa for three fours in his 13-run opening over in the 18th over. The first two were swift past the 30-yard circle late cutters.
Innings pick up speed
The number of ones and twos—the foundation of a signature Kohli innings—rose as the partnership did. In the 26th over, as India reached 100, Kohli also reached his fifty off 75 balls. Soon after, off 72 balls, Rahul made the mark with a single to deep point.
Even these nudges and nurdles drew cheers as India neared their goal. Zampa and off-spinner Glenn Maxwell simply didn’t have the same effect as India’s bowlers. The majority of Australian fielders had towels tucked beneath their pants, so it’s possible that the dew prevented the ball from gripping and spinning as much as it did in the opening stages of the match.
Kohli was eventually caught at midwicket on 85 by Hazlewood. However, by that point, India only required 33 more points to win. Those runs were quickly eliminated. Rahul smacked successive pitches from Maxwell for a six and a four, while Hardik Pandya slammed Pat Cummins for a six over long-off. Rahul’s six over covers against Cummins was the perfect way to win the match.
India’s top order wobble may require considerable reflection, but the bowling effort was faultless. In order to limit Australia’s scoring possibilities, Jasprit Bumrah instantly chose an immaculate route outside off-stump to set the tone. Marsh was dismissed in the third over as an immediate reward. Even though the length was a little bit shorter than in his previous deliveries, the edge was still seen, and Kohli went well to his left to complete a precise catch.
Australians take their time to begin
Although David Warner and Steve Smith early on produced some beautiful boundaries, India was never forced into a corner by their scoring rate. They were only 29/1 after seven overs, after punishing Pandya for three boundaries in his first over.
Sharma began to spin at that point for the first time. R Ashwin, a native of Chennai, was sent on, and after receiving his third delivery for a short distance, Smith moved back to cut. Only that the ball beat his bat and bounced more than he anticipated. The following ball was of a similar length, and Smith tentatively but effectively protected it. The ball spit abruptly off the surface and carried a plume of dust.
As the spin trio of Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja diligently went about their business following the powerplay, the scoring rate dropped down even more. In a magnificent left-arm spin performance, Jadeja dismissed Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, and Alex Carey while Kuldeep caught and bowled Warner.
The Australians needed 74 more balls to hit their next boundary after Labuschagne pushed Jadeja for a four into fine leg in the 20th over. Australia had already lost five wickets by that point. They now placed their faith in Maxwell and Cameron Green. For the sixth wicket, they added 21 runs in 37 balls, but Kuldeep and Ashwin struck in a span of three deliveries. Kuldeep’s delivery, which was swift through the air and flatter and knocked back Maxwell’s leg stump, defeated him. Ashwin, who had bowled superbly the entire time, was only fortunate in that his wicket came off what was possibly his weakest ball. Green’s cut shot was short and wide, but Pandya at point managed to catch it.
Every Indian bowler finished with at least one wicket, thanks to the late-arriving Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Pandya who dismissed the lower order.
