Australia lost to India by a heartbreaking 24 runs in a match they had to win, sending them out of the tournament. The Mitchell Marsh-led team still has a mathematical chance of winning since they need Bangladesh to defeat Afghanistan on June 25. Australia will be returning home by plane if the plan doesn’t work out.
In St. Lucia, Australia chose to bowl first after winning the toss. India was under pressure after Josh Hazlewood got rid of Virat Kohli early on, but Rohit Sharma, the captain, was outstanding and scored 92 runs off of only 41 deliveries. Based on his performance, India amassed 205 runs in the first innings, demonstrating how he helped the team start strong with the ball and take advantage of the circumstances. Hardik Pandya scored 27* runs off 17 balls, while Suryakumar Yadav had a strong cameo of 31 runs off 16 deliveries.
It wasn’t easy to chase down 206, particularly after Australia lost David Warner in the opening over of the match.
Nevertheless, Travis Head’s outstanding 76 runs off 43 balls kept the Kangaroos in the hunt. He had good middle-of-the-road support from Mitchell Marsh, but after Head was fired, everything became murky. Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah were at the core of everything as wickets crashed like a house of cards.
1. Rohit executing the captain’s pass
Rohit proved to be India’s saviour when they needed a hero. For the first time since the ODI World Cup 2023, Rohit faced Australia, and he appeared to be a man seeking revenge. India got off to the best possible start since he looked amazing from the beginning. In the end, his 92-run knock proved to be the difference.
2. Past horrors
Every Indian fan was afraid of Travis Head. He threatened to take away the game once more, but ultimately was unable to do so. Still, Australia is still a strong contender to make the playoffs, so his 76-run knock is deserving of much praise.
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Losing skipper Mitchell Marsh said:
Disappointing. It happens in the game of cricket. In the course of 40 overs, there are a lot of small margins. India were the better team, Rohit is a class player. (On Head and Maxwell’s batting) Gave us more belief than hope. In a run chase like that if you keep it at 10 an over, we are in the game. India’s bowlers were too good though in the end. Come on, Bangladesh now!
Winning skipper and POTM Rohit Sharma said:
Satisfying. We know the opposition and the threat they bring. As a team we did well, kept doing the things we needed to do. Gives us good confidence as a team. 200 is a good score but when you are playing here with wind being a big factor, anything can happen. But I think we used to conditions really well, and it was about individuals doing their job. If was about getting wickets at the right time.
(On Kuldeep) We know the strength he has, but we need to use him when necessary. In New York, there were seamer friendly wickets. He had to miss out but we knew he had a big role to play out here. (On semi-final) We don’t want to do anything different, play the same way and understand what each person has to do. Play freely and not think too much on what’s lying ahead. Not think about the opposition. We have been doing it consistently, just need to continue. (On playing England in semi) It will be a nice match, nothing changes for us as a team.
India
