India’s first match at the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup had every constituent possible to ensure the fans in Chennai, who dared and braved the heat to flock at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, and the fans all across the globe, who waited patiently, with bated breath, for four days since the tournament’s commencement to witness their favourite team in action, get their money’s, and time’s worth.
It had a few heroic performances, and some disappointing let-downs. It had moments where not many could have avoided biting their nails, and moments where everything in life seemed to be in perfect order for every Indian cricket fan.
But most importantly, it had two points credited to India’s account, as they secured a six-wicket triumph on the first hurdle of their mission of three. Chasing a target of 200 runs on a surface that had very little for the batters, India managed to chase it down in 41.2 overs, courtesy of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul’s rescue acts.
Albeit the target was far from being daunting, India found themselves between a rock and a hard place after the first couple of overs, courtesy of three batters departing without troubling the scorers.
Ishan Kishan, who was provided with an opportunity in the absence of Shubman Gill, could not capitalise on the chance as a careless slash at a Mitchell out-swinger brought his downfall.
In the next over, a Josh Hazlewood in-swinger trapped Rohit Sharma leg before wicket, before Shreyas Iyer picked out David Warner at cover to give the Australian opener some catching practice.
With the scoreboard masquerading as a football scoreline at 2/3, India needed someone to hold the fort for them, and they found two – in Kohli and Rahul. They were cautious at first, as after 10 overs, India’s score was 27/3.
It could easily have been 27/4, had Mitchell Marsh not handed Kohli a reprieve by dropping his catch when the former Indian skipper was batting on 12. Little did he know that Kohli would not let him forget about the missed opportunity, adding a further 73 runs to his tally.
The pair kept dealing predominantly in singles till the 17th over, but the momentum shift occurred at a rather unexpected juncture – when Pat Cummins introduced his solitary specialist spinner, Adam Zampa into the firing line.
The leggie was taken to the cleaners, except not the kind of cleaners the bowlers at the Arun Jaitley Stadium were taken to. In the 26th over, Kohli completed his 67th ODI half-century, propelling India into triple figures.
An over later, the pair completed a 100-run fourth-wicket stand, while in the over following that one, Rahul brought up his half-century. The next few overs saw a tectonic shift in scoring rate, as between the 32nd and the 37th over, India accumulated 43 runs.
An ill-fated pull shot could have cost him his wicket many overs ago, but it ultimately handed Kohli a departure ticket in the 38th over – agonisingly for his fans, only 15 runs before what could have been his 48th ODI century.
However, a mighty blow from Hardik Pandya and a few exquisite strokes from KL Rahul ensured India chased the total down quite comfortably in the end.
Jadeja Leads All-Guns-Blazing Bowling Unit
Earlier, Australia had a difficult time with the bat, as they were bowled out for 199 runs. Jasprit Bumrah provided India with an early breakthough in the third over by dismissing Mitchell Marsh for a duck, but having said that, David Warner and Steve Smith were involved in a commendable 69-run second-wicket partnership.
The stand ended when Warner lost his wicket to Kuldeep Yadav in the 17th over, but it was followed by another partnership – a 36-run one between Smith and Marnus Labuschagne.
Smith eventually fell prey to an excellent Ravindra Jadeja delivery in the 28th over, which triggered an Australian collapse. None of the other batters could even breach the 30-run mark, as Australia lost eight wickets in 89 runs.
For India, Ravindra Jadeja was the most effective bowlers, recording figures of 10-2-28-3. Albeit, for skipper Rohit Sharma, the most pleasing aspect will be all of his six bowlers being among wickets.
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