With scores of 85 and 97 runs (both unbeaten), respectively, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul shined for the hosts as India easily reached 201 for four in response to Australia’s 199.
Australia’s top scorers were openers David Warner (41) and Steve Smith (46) who struggled to build solid partnerships against India’s skilled spinners.
Smith and Marnus Labuschagne (27) were both bowled by Ravindra Jadeja, leaving India in a commanding position.
After Alex Carey was ejected by Jadeja via lbw, Jasprit Bumrah removed Mitchell Marsh for a duck and captain Pat Cummins (15) from the game.
When India’s openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan were both out for zero runs during a dream start for Starc and Josh Hazlewood, who claimed the dismissals, they stumbled in their reaction.
However, when Shreyas Iyer was also out for a duck, Kohli and Rahul stabilized the situation and started to score runs, scoring 16 boundaries between them.
Even though Kohli was caught by Hazlewood after scoring a solid 85 off 116 balls because of Labuschagne’s pressure, the damage had already been done and India’s triumph had become a matter of if, not when.
Before Rahul increased his score to 97 and gave India a comfortable victory with 52 balls remaining, Hardik Pandya entered the game and made 11 runs without being dismissed.
