Just like Indian bowlers dominated Australian batters, Aussie bowlers did the same with Indian top order. Hazelwood took two wickets in a single over, dismissing both Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer for a duck. Starc, who already sent Ishan Kishan back home for another duck, put India in a horrific situation with 2/3.
Virat Kohli and KL Rahul took the responsibility on their shoulders and started off slow but steady. Slowly. rotating the strike, they built a partnership and converted their innings into a smooth fifty, respectively. Virat Kohli scored 85 runs in 116 balls, which included just six fours and a lot of singles and doubles, putting pressure on the opposition. While KL Rahul made it big by scoring an unbeaten 97 runs in 115 balls with eight fours and two massive sixes, which included the winning six as well. Hardik Pandya (11*) did the rest of the job to help India with the remaining runs for the inevitable victory.
However, it was the two middle-order experienced batters who made sure they didn’t take chances and played according to the conditions with calmness. Keeping the strike rotation on throughout the game, they directed India to a comfortable win, which looked promisingly difficult at one point in time. KL Rahul received the player of the match for his exceptional inning at a very crucial moment.
India claimed their first win by six wickets at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.