ICC World Cup 2019: Match 14, India vs Australia – Who Said What

Both India and Australia had an excellent outing with the bat in their contest at the Kennington Oval in London. The match turned out to be an exciting one, but eventually, Virat Kohli’s men outclassed their opponent comfortably and won by 36 runs. It was their second consecutive triumph after the one versus South Africa. In the meantime, India also ceased Australia’s 10-match winning streak in the ODI format.

Indian batting dictates terms

On a track that was expected to slow down, India won the toss and elected to bat first. The decision turned out to be a masterstroke as the Men in Blue racked up a significant 352 in 50 overs. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan cobbled together a stand of 127 runs off 22.3 overs to build the platform. Nathan Coulter-Nile gave the Aussies their first breakthrough, getting rid of Rohit, who scored 57 off 70 balls.

However, Dhawan carried on an got a fifty after which the southpaw notched his 17th ODI century off 95 balls. He perished to Mitchell Starc after scoring 117 off 109 balls. He also put on a partnership of 93 runs along with Virat Kohli, the Indian captain. The swashbuckling Hardik Pandya was sent in to bat at number four and he didn’t disappoint, scoring 48 off 27 with four boundaries and a couple of sixes.

Kohli took his time initially and got to his half-century in 55 balls. MS Dhoni also smacked three fours and a six to get 27 quickfire runs off 14 balls. Kohli, at the other end, played until the very last over and ended up with 82 runs off 77 deliveries with four fours and a couple of sixes. KL Rahul started with a six off Marcus Stoinis in the very first ball he faced and then finished off the Indian innings with a boundary.

Australia tried hard but to no avail

Aaron Finch and David Warner made sure that Australia doesn’t lose early wickets and put on 61 for the opening wicket in 13.1 overs. Unfortunately, a shambolic mix-up with Warner led to the dismissal of Finch, who managed 36 runs. Steve Smith promoted himself to three and carried on with his good form. He stitched together a stand of 73 runs with Warner, who notched his second fifty of the mega event.

Yuzvendra Chahal accounted for the wicket of Warner after the left-hander scored 56 off 84 with five fours. Following his dismissal, Smith and Usman Khawaja added 69 runs for the third wicket. Jasprit Bumrah castled Khawaja for 42 to separate the duo. A few overs later, Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up the prized wicket of Smith, who was looking ominous having scored 69 off 70 balls with five fours and a six.

Thereafter, Kumar sent back Marcus Stoinis for a duck. Glenn Maxwell tried to take the Indian bowling by the scruff of its neck and even he perished for 28. Bumrah nipped out Coulter-Nile and Pat Cummins cheaply. Alex Carey was in no mood to throw in the towel and he raced his way to a half-century off 25 balls. He tried valiantly with a 35-ball 55, but his efforts went in vain as Australia fell way short.

Shikhar Dhawan, the Player of the Match, said

We are happy with the result as it was a great team effort. It’s a great sign for our team and I’m happy with this man of the match award. Very happy with the performance overall. We are a great fielding side, we took great catches. We have a good bowling side, great spinners as well. We work really hard in the nets, our process is very strong that’s why the results are going our way. We ticked all the boxes today. We knew they are a great side and the match will go down to the wire. We need to continue ticking the boxes in upcoming matches. The fans are having a great time and they’ll be happy with this win.

Virat Kohli, the Indian captain, said

A top, top win for us after losing that series in India. We came in with intent right from ball one. The opening p’ship was outstanding. It was an outstanding with the ball on a good batting track. You have to bowl well. You can’t take things for granted. That 30 runs gives you the luxury. One of the top three getting hundred. We decided to send Hardik to cash in. For us if Shami has to play, it has to be overcast and proper bowling conditions. Very professional again. You hardly need to say anything to them.

Aaron Finch, the Australian captain, said

They got 120 off the last 10 overs and that’s a lot. There wasn’t huge amount on offer. We could have dried up more. They bat very deep, you want to go for wickets. Just that type of a game, they outplayed us. You look at everything. You look for different combinations depending on the situation. We’re starting to pick up the tempo, that’s one mode of dismissal. They bowled well to him. He’s a great bowler and he’ll bounce back.