CHENNAI:  India yesterday defeated Australia by six wickets in the fifth match of the ICC World Cup 2023 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.

Earlier, India restricted Australia to 199 runs in their opening match of the mega event.   Five-time champions Australia won the toss and elected to bat first at Chennai’s M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in the 150th ODI meeting between the two cricket powerhouses, who opened their campaigns in the showpiece event.

But the Australian innings ended in 49.3 overs as Jadeja stood out in his 10 overs of left-arm spin. Fellow spinner Kuldeep Yadav and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets each.

Australia lost an early wicket before veteran batsmen David Warner (41) and Steve Smith (46) hit back in a partnership of 69.

Former captain Virat Kohli made an early impact with a diving slip catch to send back Mitchell Marsh, for a six-ball duck, off Bumrah. The left-handed Warner reached 1,000 World Cup runs, passing Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar´s previous best landmark. Warner needed 19 innings to Tendulkar’s 20.

Both Warner and Smith made their experience count with a steady approach on a tough batting pitch as India rotated their bowlers. Kuldeep, a left-arm wrist spinner, broke the stand to send back Warner, caught and bowled amid a roar from the crowd that nearly filled the stadium in contrast to the empty seats in the other matches so far. Smith stuck around with Marnus Labuschagne as runs came at a premium and a miserly Jadeja got his first wicket with his left-arm spin. He bowled Smith to deny the former captain his fifty and then struck twice in his next over including wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey for a duck to rattle the opposition batting.

Wickets kept tumbling and Australia slipped further when Glenn Maxwell fell for 15, bowled off Kuldeep and Cameron Green out to Ravichandran Ashwin. Australia collapsed from 110-2 to 140-7 before skipper Pat Cummins hit the first six of the match, but fell for 15 in another attempt to hit the ball beyond the boundary.Number nine Mitchell Starc hit 28 to add some respect to the total.

Published in The Daily National Courier, October, 09 2023

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