(Image source: X.com)
[Saba Sports News] India pulled out of a remarkable win in their first World Cup 2023 match against Australia held in Chennai. India, while chasing 200, got off to a horrible start as Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, and Shreyas Iyer got out without scoring any runs, marking the first time India had three batters out of the top four dismissed for duck in ODIs.
India were 2-3 at one stage, but Virat Kohli and KL Rahul’s heroics saved the day for them with their 165-run partnership. However, there had come a white-knuckle moment for fans in the eighth over of the second innings when Australian fielder Mitchell Marsh dropped Kohli.
Kohli, who was batting on 12, faced a short ball from Josh Hazlewood. He tried to pull the delivery but it found the top-edge of his bat. The ball hung in the air for a while, and Marsh attempted to catch it by running towards it from mid-wicket. The 31-year-old failed to grab the ball, giving Kohli and Indian fans a sigh of relief.
However, in the post-match press conference, Josh Hazlewood denied the fact that Kohli’s dropped catch played a major role in Australia’s six-wicket defeat.
“No, I don’t think so (it played a role), it was quite early obviously when that catch was dropped. I didn’t think Carey could get there. I think it was Mitch’s catch and probably just Carey got quite close in the end so it might have just put Mitch off,” said Hazlewood.
“Yeah, he dropped a catch, it’s one of those things that happens and everyone’s training hard and working hard off the field to hang on to them. So, yeah, we’ll continue on,” he added.
Kohli eventually got out after scoring 85 runs. It was Hazlewood only who broke the partnership between Kohli and Rahul. A sharp catch at mid-wicket by Marnus Labuschagne ended Kohli’s match-winning knock.