KL Rahul in action during Cricket World Cup 2023© X (formerly Twitter)
KL Rahul missed out narrowly on a brilliant half-century but was able to guide India to a win over Australia in their opening match of the Cricket World Cup 2023 on Sunday. Rahul remained unbeaten on 97 off 115 deliveries and he was the one who slammed the winning runs for his side. However, his reaction after winning the final six of the game has gone viral on social media. India were in deep trouble during their 200-run chase as skipper Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, and Ishan Kishan were all dismissed without scoring a single run. Rahul stitched together a brilliant partnership with Kohli as both the batters scored half-centuries and India were able to win the game comfortably in the end.
With India needing a six to win in the match, Rahul was still 9 runs away from his century. It was still possible if he could hit a four followed by a six but he ended up hitting the ball for a six first. He was momentarily stunned but he broke into a smile as the stadium erupted following the victory.
Virat Kohli and KL Rahul hit defiant knocks to lift India from a perilous three down for two runs to a six-wicket win over Australia in their opening Cricket World Cup match on Sunday.
Great Knock by Klasssy Man
Just miss from Century
And Finished in Style #KLRahul #WorldCup2023 #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/OazFxCSsMP— REVANᴾᵘˢʰᵖᵃᵀʰᵉᴿᵘˡᵉ² (@fastup_shindu) October 8, 2023
Chasing a tricky target of 200, India lost three batsmen, who all failed to score, inside two overs before Kohli (85) and Rahul (97 not out) put on 165.
Victory was secured with 52 balls to spare.
Spinner Ravindra Jadeja returned figures of 3-28 to help bowl out Australia for 199 in 49.3 overs in the 150th ODI meeting between the two cricket giants.
(With AFP inputs)
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