Two-time World Cup winners India, on October 8, beat Australia by six wickets in their opening match while playing at the MA Chidambaram (Chipauk) Stadium in Chennai.
After a lot of struggle, India managed to beat Australia by 6 wickets, with 52 balls remaining, all thanks to the best bowling performances by the entire bowling squads and the powerful set-piece batting provided by India’s chase master Virat Kohli and the reliable KL Rahul, who remained without defeat. .
Earlier, Australia won the toss and decided to bat first, but despite losing the toss, India’s bowlers did not disappoint.
For India, every bowler showed his magic. Ravindra Jadeja was the most successful bowler, picking up 3 wickets, while Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav picked 2 wickets each. Ravichandran Ashwin, Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Siraj also grabbed one wicket each.
Apart from David Warner (41) and Steve Smith (46), no other batsman could stand on the Chibok pitch for long. Australia managed to score just 199 runs in 49.3 overs.
Now, while chasing the wicket target, India have lost Ishan Kishan, skipper Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer in the initial overs. However, Kohli (85) and Rahul (97*) built a memorable partnership, guiding India to a six-wicket win.
Read also: ICC World Cup 2023: Here’s who tops the points table after India vs Australia
Points table:
Despite the win, India is not among the top four countries after the first round of matches and is ranked fifth. The reason is net run rate, as India ranks lowest among the five teams that have won their first matches.
India has +0.883 NRR, compared to New Zealand (+2.149), South Africa (+2.040), Pakistan (+1.620) and Bangladesh (+1.438).
Here is the points table:
| difference | matches | had won | Lost | link | no result | points | Net operating rate |
| New Zealand | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | +2.149 |
| South Africa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | +2.040 |
| Pakistan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | +1.620 |
| Bangladesh | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | +1.438 |
| India | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | +0.883 |
| Australia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.833 |
| Afghanistan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1.438 |
| Holland | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1.620 |
| Sri Lanka | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2.040 |
| England | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2.149 |
India’s next match:
India is scheduled to play Afghanistan on October 11 at the Arun Jaitley International Stadium in New Delhi, where they will try to improve their net run rate and ranking.
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Updated: 08 October 2023, 10:52 PM IST
