KL Rahul, the "Man of the Match," was a great ally for Virat Kohli as the Men in Blue defeated Australia by six wickets on Sunday at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium. Kohli is the maestro of the uphill pursuit.
The culmination of a tumultuous Sunday night that alternated between misery and exhilaration was India starting its World Cup campaign on a victorious note.
The 'Man-of-the-Match' was a great ally for Virat Kohli, the maestro of the uphill quest. At the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, KL Rahul and the Men in Blue overcame a tense two for three wickets phase to defeat Australia. India scored 201 for four in 41.2 overs to win by six wickets.
India's pursuit of Australia's 199 hit a snag when Ishan Kishan tried an audacious drive against Mitchell Starc and fell behind. Josh Hazlewood batted one back in to ruffle the pad in the following over, which saw the departure of captain Rohit Sharma. Hazlewood leaped with joy as Shreyas Iyer foolishly attempted to drill one over the inner circle as the horrors persisted.
By keeping a careful eye on the ball, moving quickly to make a move, playing solid defence, and not being afraid to swat one past Hazlewood for four, Kohli happily avoided his teammates' dirge of ducks. After the batsman mishandled a hook against Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh, who was charging, dropped a skier from Kohli.
Then, after hitting Cameron Green for two fours on 12, Kohli. Rahul overcut Adam Zampa and blasted the leg-spinner for three fours in the opening over.
In the Indian dressing room, the alliance established strong roots and dissipated tension. Pat Cummins, the Australian captain, rushed in hard and attempted to hustle the pair, but aside from the occasional play-and-miss, he too was countered.
Rahul and Kohli both reached their fifties before the former died in Hazlewood from a worn-out draw. India crossed the finish line thanks to Kohli's 85 (116b, 6x4) and Rahul's 165-run fourth-wicket stand (97 n.o., 115b, 8x4, 2x6). Hardik Pandya also added his flare with some stunning hits.
Watch Match highlights
Credit to hotstar.com
The fans had earlier refused to be deterred by the oppressively hot weather. As their wave of blue rushed into the venue, a few yellow streaks were evident due to some empty seats of the same colour. David Warner and Marsh walked out, and the latter fell victim to Jasprit Bumrah's edge that a diving Kohli grabbed at first slip after twitching outside the off-stump. Warner and Steve Smith, the veteran guard, quickly worked well together for a 69-run second-wicket stand.
Smith found his positions while Warner pulled and drove. Warner (41) though whacked one straight back to spinner Kuldeep Yadav against the flow of play.
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. The appetiser turned out to be a stunning one because Jadeja quickly fired 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.
