ICC ODI World Cup 2023 final: KL Rahul and Virat Kohli scored fighting half-centuries but the Australian bowling unit managed to contain in-form India to 240 runs in Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.
Captain Rohit Sharma gave India the perfect start with his 31-ball 47 despite his opening partner Shubman Gill falling early. India managed 80 runs from the first 10 overs but failed to reach a commanding total as Australia managed to pick wickets at regular intervals.
Captain Rohit Sharma gave India the perfect start with his 31-ball 47 despite his opening partner Shubman Gill falling early. India managed 80 runs from the first 10 overs but failed to reach a commanding total as Australia managed to pick wickets at regular intervals.
The Australian pace battery consisting of Mitchell Starc (10-0-55-3), Josh Hazlewood (10-0-60-2) and Pat Cummins (10-0-34-2) brought out their A-games to contain India's explosives batters.
Spinners Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell also chipped in by claiming the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah respectively.
On a track where stroke-making became extremely difficult with each passing over, KL Rahul's composed 66 off 107 is worth its weight in gold but he would have ideally liked to bat till the end having done the hard grind.
The degree of difficulty could be gauged by the fact that the Indians managed only 13 fours in the entire innings, apart from the three sixes hit by skipper Rohit Sharma.
The Indian team would hope that it won't be any easier for batting when Australia begin their chase as dew could make life difficult for the home team bowlers.
Otherwise, on a track where the ball is gripping Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav could be very difficult to get away, after the three Australian spinners (Adam Zampa, Glenn Maxwell and Travis Head) collectively gave away only 83 runs in their 18 overs with two wickets.
Even though Shubman Gill's poor execution of a short-arm pull brought his early downfall, Rohit showed little nerves as he played some expansive strokes on his way to a brisk 31-ball-47.
Glenn Maxwell celebrating Rohit Sharma's wicket | AP
Rohit picked Josh Hazlewood's (2/60 in 10 overs) length early for some special treatment and was also harsh on Mitchell Starc (3/55 in 10 overs) as he got three sixes and four boundaries in no time.
However, it was Travis Head's turn to do a Kapil Dev as Maxwell's (1/35 in 6 overs) delivery stopped with the Indian skipper dancing down the track in search of a maximum. The thick outside edge flew over cover and Head, running backwards, completed a stunner that broke India's hearts and momentum.
The Australian fielding was exceptional as the field placement by Cummins was immaculate and the manner in which the fielders inside the ring cut the angles and outfielders saved boundaries was there to be seen.
Kohli started with three stunning boundaries -- an on-drive, a slash behind point and a cover drive to set the pace followed by a punch off Maxwell through extra-cover.
With Cummins sending Shreyas Iyer back with a pitched-up delivery that straightened and the batter played inside the line, it was time for consolidation from the Kohli-Rahul duo, who added 67 in 18.1 overs.
It was a phase where Cummins' cerebral captaincy helped the Aussies maintain a stranglehold on the duo. They couldn't hit a boundary for nearly balls and the wagon wheel showed that most of Kohli's 34 singles came in the arc between square leg and long-on. Rahul, at the other end, had one boundary only.
Mitchell Starc celebrating a wicket with teammates | PTI
Cummins placed a fielder on the leg-side boundary and asked his spinners to bowl straight lines, allowing Kohli little room to manoeuvre on the off-side.
Then when he brought himself on, he opened the cover region and bowled a Test match length, packing the leg-side field and on a fairly benign track, it took one ball to bounce a tad extra and break a billion hearts.
Australia's fielding
The Antipodeans have always been a very good fielding side, and they raised the bar one notch up in the summit clash. Travis Head took that brilliant running catch to dismiss Rohit Sharma and David Warner made more than one diving saves near the ropes to save the boundaries, leaving Indian batters a bit frustrated.
It also forced them to change their gung-ho approach that they followed so far in the tournament. Cummins also made some really good field placements.
When Kohli and Rahul were batting, the Aussies skipper opened the cover region with a sweeper in place and closed ranks around the square-leg and mid-on areas. It was a clear ploy to force the Indian batters to take more risks to make quick runs, or contend with those workman-like singles to covers and leg-side.
- With PTI inputs
