KL Rahul and Virat Kohli struck half-centuries but Australia produced a superlative bowling effort to limit India to 240-all out in 50 overs in the final of the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup being played at the Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Rahul top-scored with 66 while Kohli made 54.
Pat Cummins took a gutsy decision to bowl first despite the popular belief that a team winning the toss must put runs on the board. However, the Australian skipper put his faith in dew hoping that the batting will get easier.
Follow WC Final: IND vs AUS
Mitchell Starc backed his skipper’s decision when he got rid of opener Shubman Gill on 4 in the fifth over.
However, India captain Rohit Sharma blazed away, yet again to counterpunch as he peppered the boundary en rout to 31-ball 47 with the help of four fours and three sixes.
The pitch was expected to play slow and Glenn Maxwell was introduced early in the Powerplay. He landed a major blow as Rohit was caught by Travis Head who took a stunning running catch.
Shreyas Iyer was dealt with cheaply with Cummins sending back the in-form batter back to the dressing room on 4.
Having lost two wickets in quick succession pushed India into a hole and here was a phase when India didn’t score a single boundary in 97 deliveries.
Kohli, the leading run-getter of the tournament, settled in nicely and battled his way to a half-century but Cummins, as he had said on the match-eve, silenced the 92,000 strong crowd when he got rid of the former in the 29th over – just when it seemed the innings is gathering some momentum.
A short delivery from Cummins and Kohli rose to defend it and it proved fatal – the ball took the inside edge and landed on the stumps leaving the India star and the fans in disbelief.
Meanwhile, Rahul brought up his half-century of his own and was stitching another partnership, this time with Ravindra Jadeja. However, Josh Hazlewood got the ball to reverse and Jadeja got an outside edge to be out caught behind for a laborious 22-ball 9 to break the partnership on 30 runs.
Jadeja’s dismissal left India five down and in walked Suryakumar Yadav, the last specialist batter in the line-up.
Wickets though kept tumbling as Starc returned for another spell to land a crushing blow with Rahul this time edging one to be caught-behind on 66.
When Rahul left the field, India were 203/6 and the hopes of a competitive total rested on Suryakumar Yadav who struggled and managed just 18 before becoming Hazelwood’s second victime.
Brief Scores: India 240-all out in 50 Overs (KL Rahul 66, Virat Kohli 54, Rohit Sharma 47) vs Australia (Mitchell Starc 3/55, Pat Cummins 2/34, Josh Hazlewood 2/60)
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