ICC World Cup 2019: Match 14, India vs Australia: Best Memes from the Match

India have comprehensively defeated Australia by 42 runs at the Kennington Oval in London in a marquee clash. While the Aussies never lost hope in a steep chase, the Men in Blue had posted little too many runs for their liking and their bowling was up to the mark. Having said that, the credit should be given to Shikhar Dhawan who scored a brilliant century and the entire Indian batting line-up for putting up a mammoth total on the board.

Australia were always under pressure in the chase and the new-ball bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah tied the openers perfectly. However, the skipper Aaron Finch took the attack to Hardik Pandya in his second over and got things going. But he was involved in a mix-up with David Warner which resulted in Finch’s run-out. Steve Smith came out then and stitched a stable partnership with Warner.

The left-handed struggled during his stay in the middle and laboured his way to 56 off 82 balls. He got out at the wrong time for Australia. The duo had taken their time stitching 72 runs for the second wicket and Warner should’ve stayed in the middle a bit more. Usman Khawaja came out to bat then for some strange reasons and though he stabilised the innings with a 69-run stand, the required run-rate had shot up to 10.

Bumrah castled him only for Glenn Maxwell to come and hit some quick runs. However, from the other end, Steve Smith and Marcus Stoinis were dismissed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar in a single over to almost kill the chase. While Smith played a fine hand of 69 runs, Stoinis bagged a duck. Yuzvendra Chahal closed the game effectively by flummoxing Maxwell thanks to a brilliant catch from Ravindra Jadeja.

Maxwell got out with the team needing 109 more runs and after his wicket, Australia were never going to get to the target. They eventually fell short of the target by 36 runs and they came this far only due to Alex Carey who remained unbeaten 55. Australia scored 316 runs and got bowled out off the last ball of the innings.

Dhawan’s century propels India

Earlier in the day, India batted superbly to post a mammoth total of 352 runs for the loss of five wickets in 50 overs. Shikhar Dhawan was the star batsman for them scoring 117 runs off just 109 deliveries while his opening partner Rohit Sharma also scored a fine half-century before getting out to Nathan Coulter-Nile in the 23rd over. There was no respite for Australia at any stage as Virat Kohli came out to bat at number three and controlled the innings superbly.

He was dismissed only in the last over of the innings for 82 off 77 deliveries by Marcus Stoinis. Hardik Pandya was promoted up the order and it worked wonders for India. He took a few deliveries to get the hold of the pitch and then launched an assault on the opposition bowlers. Adam Zampa and Pat Cummins were at the receiving end of his hitting as Pandya scored 48 runs off just 27 deliveries.

MS Dhoni also had fun with his 27-run knock which came off just 14 balls as India finished on 352 runs in 50 overs which was a little too much for Australia in the end despite Alex Carey’s fighting half-century.

Here are some of the best memes: