India recover early collapse with Kohli, Rahul

Virat Kohli and KL Rahul came with positive intends and took India on a safe position after losing three early wickets against Australia in the fifth match of the World Cup.

The duo made a 103-run stand as Kohli and Rahul remain unbeaten for 53 and 49 runs respectively after 27 overs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Sunday.

Three Indian batters - Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer had departed for ducks on team's two runs in two overs while chasing a meager target of 200 runs.

The wizard strikes started with Aussie fast bowler Mitchell Starc in the first over. Then Josh Hazlewood struck twice in the very next over.
Earlier, the too-slow batting approach forced Australia to lose wickets as they bowled out for 199 runs in 49.3 overs struggling against spin.

After opting to bat, Australia lost Mitchel Marsh for a duck on just five runs. Although David Warner (41) and Steven Smith (45) made a 69-run stand, that was too sluggish, resulting in the fall of wickets in quick successions as they tried to accelerate the run rate.

Warner departed when the score was 72 in 16.3 overs and then the Aussies kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Mitchel Starc (28) contributed a little at the end and took the team to the 50th over.

Ravindra Jadeja was the pick of the Indian bowlers as he bagged three wickets conceding just 28 runs in 10 overs. Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah picked up two wickets each.

Playing XIs:

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

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

EM