World Cup 2023 Final: Australia pacers breathe fire to restrict India to 240 runs
World Cup 2023 Final: Australia pacers breathe fire to restrict India to 240 runs
Admin
Virat Kohli (54) and KL Rahul (66) scored half0-centuries but India were restricted to 240 during their 2023 Cricket World Cup final against Australia in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
World Cup 2023: News | Schedule | Results | Points table
Having been put to bat first by Australia, Rohit Sharma (47 off 31 balls) got the Men in Blue off to a strong start, with the skipper hitting Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc for regular boundaries.
India needed Rohit to play on for at least 10-15 overs, but he miscued a loft towards mid-on off Glenn Maxwell’s delivery in the 10th over as Travis Head came running from cover point to complete the catch.
Earlier, Shubman Gill (4) was dismissed in the fifth over after pulling a short ball from Starc that fell to the hands of Adam Zampa at mid-on.
Shreyas Iyer (4) too failed to make any impact and was dismissed by Pat Cummins in the 11th over. By this time, India were 81/3 and needed a big partnership in order to revive their hopes of a big total.
Follow LIVE: Cricket World Cup Final
The task was then cut out for Virat Kohli (54) and KL Rahul (66), who put on 67 runs for the fourth wicket.
Around the 10th over, boundaries had dried up for India and part of the reason for that was Australia’s impeccable fielding that was on display.
India’s next boundary came only in the second ball of the 27th over, when Rahul guided towards the fine leg fence for four runs.
And just when Kohli was looking in good touch after getting to another half-century, he was cleaned up by Cummins in the 29th over.
KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja (9) looked to stabilize India’s innings, but the latter never really got going, before being edged and caught by Josh Inglis off Hazlewood’s delivery in the 36th over.
Suryakumar Yadav (18) also fell to big match pressure like Shubman and Iyer. And as far as India’s lower order was concerned, Mohammed Shami (6) was dismissed early but Kuldeep Yadav’s 18-ball 10 and Mohammed Siraj’s knock of nine from eight balls helped India reach a modest total.
,Boundaries dried up towards the end too, but a straight drive from Siraj towards mid-off in the final over brought cheer among fans. In the end, Kuldeep Yadav was run-out in the final ball of the innings, with Labuschagne firing an accurate throw, leaving Cummins to do the rest.
