India beat Australia by six wickets to begin their ICC World Cup campaign on a positive note in Chennai on Sunday.Half-centuries from Virat Kohli and KL Rahul powered India's chase of 200 after the home team lost three wickets with just two runs on the board. Thanks to Kohli and Rahul's 165-run partnership for the fourth wicket, India completed the task in 41.2 overs. Earlier, India bowled out Australia for 199 following a disciplined effort with the ball.Victory was secured with 52 balls to spare.
Earlier, inspired by a brilliance performance from the spinners in Chennai, hosts India restricted five-time champions Australia to 199 all out (49.3 overs).Australia opted to bat after winning the toss, but their batters could not cope with the relentless pressure created by the Indian spinners.
Ravindra Jadeja (10-2-28-3), Kuldeep Yadav (10-0-42-2) and Ravichandran Ashwin (10-1-34-1) broke the back of the Australian batting after pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah (10-0-35-2) earned India an early breakthrough by dismissing Mitchell Marsh (0) in the third over.
Steven Smith (46 off 71 balls) and opener David Warner (41 off 52 balls) tried to revive the Australian innings after the first wicket, but Kuldeep and Jadeja combined to send both batters back to the pavilion.The rest of the Australian team players were unable to deal with the turning ball on a slow wicket as India kept taking wickets at regular intervals.
Newsinc24 Team
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