Amazing Debut: India Beats Australia in World Cup First Match

On Sunday, October 8th, India defeated Australia in the World Cup 2023 in Chennai with a brilliant effort to get their World Cup campaign off to a winning start. On an extremely slow wicket, the spin combination of Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and R Ashwin impressed one another, holding Australia to a score of 199. KL Rahul and Virat Kohli then displayed well all over the chase, clinching India’s victory.

The hunt for India did not go without difficulty by any means. For a side that had experienced an unlucky 5/3 start in their previous World Cup match back in 2019, it was a similar situation at Chepauk. Ishan Kishan, standing in for Shubman Gill, lost a great chance when he was caught at slip in the opening over after getting attacked by a wide ball. Josh Hazlewood caused chaos by sending both Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer back to the pavilion for ducks in the second over of the chase, shocking the fans and the locker room.

If Australia had taken advantage of a chance offered by Kohli’s failed pull shot a few overs later, India may have been in a tighter situation. Mitchell Marsh missed the opportunity, however, and Kohli decided to take a more sensible approach. India had only scored 27 runs as the powerplay ended, but they gradually started to impose themselves and scored 53 more runs in the next 10 overs. While India’s spinners had a successful day, Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell were struggling to quite match their degree of impact.

When Kohli despatched Cameron Green for two consecutive boundaries, he was able to remove him from the bowling attack. While Zampa faced Rahul in his first over, Rahul showed a good attitude and collected three boundaries. After that initial push, the pair decided to rotate their strikes slowly, continuously scoring at a pace of about four runs per over, which was in line with the required run rate.

They started to release the shots more freely as the target got closer. As a result, Kohli’s brave innings was cut short at 85, giving Hazlewood his third wicket. Rahul, meanwhile, came perilously close to a century, missing the mark by only four runs.

Early in the day, Australia came under intense pressure from India’s trio of spin spinners in the middle overs, causing a spectacular collapse that finally resulted in Australia being bowled out for just 199 runs. Early on, as Marsh left for a duck, he caused one to lag behind and slide. After that early setback, though, David Warner and Steve Smith adopted a careful strategy to control the innings on a difficult wicket.

When facing deliveries that were either too full or too short, Smith acted strongly, as seen in his battle with Hardik Pandya. Ashwin’s early introduction in the attack by India did not have the intended effect either.

Australia reached an impressive 71/1 after the opening 15 overs, and both batsmen looked confident. The key breakthrough given by Kuldeep Yadav, though, caused Warner to return one to him. This was the turning point in the game. After that, Ravindra Jadeja took control and seriously hurt the previous world champions.

Jadeja used his left-arm spin to produce a ball that turned quickly and smacked into the off stump, dismissing Smith, an important player. He continued by removing Marnus Labuschagne and Alex Carey in the same over, ruining Australia’s chances.

The wickets kept falling, and even Australia’s last batting pair, Maxwell and Green, was unable to mount a comeback. Kuldeep caused Maxwell’s leg stump to be damaged, and Green gave Ashwin his first wicket. Australia’s score dropped from 111/2 to a perilous 140/7 as a result of this powerful breakdown.

Without the important contributions made in the latter stages by Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, Australia’s situation may have been far more serious. Their attempts ultimately did little more than delay the inevitable result, as India easily won with 52 balls remaining.

Brief scores; Australia 199 all out in 49.3 overs (Smith 46, Warner 41; Jadeja 3/28)

India 201/4 in 41.2 overs (Rahul 96*, Kohli 85; Hazlewood 3/38)