Chennai, Oct 8: Virat Kohli channelised his inner champion to pull the Indian team out of choppy waters with a masterly 85, which paved the way for a six-wicket victory over Australia in their opening match of the World Cup here on Sunday.
Kohli found a trusted ally in uber-cool KL Rahul (97 not out off 115 balls) during their match-winning stand of 165 that eventually made the 200-run target seem like a cakewalk on a testing track although they took 41.2 overs to achieve it.
Their doughty alliance came after three Indian top-order batters returned to the pavilion without troubling the scorers.
But equally responsible for India getting two points are their spinners. Ravindra Jadeja (3/28 in 10 overs) along with Ravichandran Ashwin (2/34 in 10 overs) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/42 in 10 overs) made life miserable for the Australians while bowling them out for 199 in 49.3 overs
But Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood were incisive during the first three overs as Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer were walked back for ducks and the scoreboard read a sorry 2/3.
The audacious Kohli, whom the Indian fans fall in love with again every day, showed the first glimpse of fightback and unfurled an elegant drive past pacer Hazlewood, a shot that was worth million dollars.
For nearly 50 deliveries, he didn’t hit a boundary until Cameron Green’s military medium pace was introduced — two deliveries on the pads were clipped away with disdain.
Once he reached 50 off 75 balls, Kohli pulled a slow bouncer from Pat Cummins towards deep mid-wicket.
Starc hit him flush on the helmet with a short delivery when Kohli was batting in the 70s. A concussion test was done and two balls later, a square driven four reiterated that ‘Batter Kohli’ can’t be unnerved that easily.
Just when it looked like Kohli was cruising to his 48th ODI hundred, his pull off Hazlewood found Marnus Labuschagne.
Classy Rahul has a ball
No praise would be enough for Rahul, a man who often gets flak for the chances he wastes.
But on this day, Rahul showed why he is so highly rated. On a pitch where Indian spinners dictated the proceedings, Rahul literally nullified Adam Zampa with a late cut, back cut and an extra cover drive in a single over.
He matched Kohli stroke for stroke and after keeping wickets for 50 overs, Rahul batted for another 41.2 overs to show that he is ready for each and every battle.
Jadeja and
‘CSK template’
Earlier, Jadeja became the biggest nemesis among Indian spinners on a tacky Chepauk track to set up the facile win.
Jadeja, who knows the track like the back of his hand, courtesy his decade-plus association with Chennai Super Kings, took 3 for 28 in 10 overs as the slowness of the surface and subtle variations used by the all-rounder became Australia’s undoing. In fact, when he realised that Kohli could reach a 48th hundred, he was content taking the singles and doubles until the senior man got out. Rahul hit eight fours and two sixes – the second of which sealed the win. (PTI)