India began their home World Cup campaign with a thrilling six-wicket win over Australia, thanks to the heroics of Virat Kohli and K L Rahul in a nail-biting run chase on Sunday. The host nation’s spin-heavy bowling attack had earlier bundled out the five-time champions for a mere 199 runs, marking a confident start. However, India faced a shocking beginning to their innings, losing three of their top four batsmen for ducks within just two overs, a first in their One-Day International history.
Despite being dropped on 12 by Mitchell Marsh off Josh Hazlewood, Kohli exhibited his class, scoring 85 runs and orchestrating yet another successful chase for India. His partner in the 165-run fourth-wicket partnership, Rahul, remained unbeaten with a chanceless 97 as India reached the target in 41.2 overs.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma acknowledged the early struggles, saying, “We didn’t want to start our innings like that. You have to give credit to the Aussies…Credit to Virat and KL for creating that match-winning partnership.”
Australia’s batting performance left much to be desired, with no batsman reaching fifty, despite decent starts by David Warner (41) and Steve Smith (46). Kohli took a sharp catch to dismiss Marsh for a duck, while India’s spin attack, including Kuldeep Yadav, applied pressure.
Kuldeep played a crucial role by breaking the 69-run partnership and dismissing Warner with a return catch, while Jadeja (3/28) further damaged Australia’s middle order. Cummins and Starc provided some late resistance, taking Australia close to the 200-mark.
Defending a modest total, Australia’s pace attack, led by Starc, struck early, with Hazlewood removing key Indian batsmen. However, Kohli’s resilience and Rahul’s calculated aggression helped India secure a thrilling victory.
Cummins reflected on their batting struggles, saying, “We were at least 50-odd runs short…It was going to be tough defending 200 on that wicket. Their spinners in particular made it tough out there.”
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