KL Rahul hit the winning runs amid nervy moments as he missed out on what would have been a remarkable century against Australia.
Rahul remained unbeaten on 97 as he helped India clinch a stunning six-wicket victory over Pat Cummins' side in the first match of the ODI World Cup 2023 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.
Rahul stitched a marvelous partnership of 165 runs with star batter Virat Kohli for the fourth wicket as they bailed the team out of early trouble.
Notably, India lost the first three wickets with just two runs on the scoreboard as Mitchell Starc removed Ishan Kishan for 0 in the very first over.
Josh Hazlewood provided a massive breakthrough for his team as he dismissed Indian captain Rohit Sharma for 0 and Shreyas Iyer (0) in the second over of the innings.
India had a horrible start as they witnessed a bothering situation while chasing the target of 200 runs before Virat and KL Rahul joined each other in the middle.
The duo almost took the team closer to victory before Virat was dismissed (85) 15 runs short of his century in the 38th over.
Hardik Pandya came out to join Rahul and the duo didn't take much time in giving India a famous win with more than eight overs to spare.
Earlier, Australia won the toss and decided to bat first and were bowled out for 199 runs despite having a few promising partnerships in the middle overs.
After losing Mitchell Marsh (0) early, David Warner (41) and Steve Smith (46) looked good for a 69-run stand for the second wicket before the former's dismissal.
Ravindra Jadeja came out with the ball in the middle overs and changed everything, taking three wickets in quick succession to leave the Aussies in a bothering situation.
With a struggling run rate, Australia kept losing the wickets at regular intervals before they were bowled out in 49.3 overs.
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KL Rahul for his match-winning knock was adjudged as the Player of the Match.
India will next face Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Wednesday, October 11 while Australia will be up against South Africa in their next game at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Thursday, October 12.