Australia produced a special performance with the ball to bowl out India for 226 in 47.3 overs in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Put into bat, India got off to a flying start thanks to captain Rohit Sharma's quickfire 47 but they struggled from there on a slow pitch at Motera.
Rahul, Kohli hit fifties
Virat Kohli and KL Rahul added 67 for the third wicket to steady the innings but once the former was dismissed for 54, things got even tougher for the hosts.
Rahul played a patient knock of 66 off 107 balls but even he perished while trying to up the ante in the death overs. India's lower-order batters also found it tough to score with Ravindra Jadeja (9) and Suryakumar Yadav (18) not able to contribute anything significant to the total.
Starc, Cummins & Hazlewood run through Indian lineup
For the Aussies, Mitchell Starc was the chief wrecker with 3 for 55 while captain Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood bagged a couple of wickets each. Spinners Glenn Maxwell and Adam Zampa also contributed with a wicket each.
This is the first time the Men in Blue have been bowled out in their campaign in this World Cup. Notably, Australia were bowled out for 199 the last time they faced India in this tournament in the league stage.
Aussies confident after India's sub-par batting show
"You can always plan for things, the way we contributed with the ball is fantastic first up and now out there (need to do the job) with the bat.
"There is not a whole heap of help for the seam bowlers and swing bowlers, was trying to do a few different things, vary the pace a little bit. Patty (Cummins) and Josh (Hazlewood) were outstanding and obviously a little bit of reverse at the back end. Hopefully we restricted them to enough (runs)," Starc said at the mid-innings break.
