India started their ICC World Cup 2023 journey with a crucial six-wicket win against Australia at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, on Sunday.

After restricting the Aussies to 199 while bowling first, the Blues met with early blows as they had lost three batters — Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer — for just two runs in the first two overs.

However, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli built a match-winning 165-run partnership, making sure that the Blues don’t start their World Cup journey with an embarrassing loss in front of their home crowd.

Kohli contributed 85 runs while the wicketkeeper batter Rahul amassed 97 runs, leading their side to an important win.

Teams
India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

Australia: David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood