Ahmedabad: Australia captain Pat Cummins struck again as he got Virat Kohli to chop the ball onto his stumps in the 28 over of ICC One-Day International (ODI) World Cup 2023 final at Narendra Modi Stadium here on Sunday.
The dismissal was greeted with stunned silence at the stadium as Kohli looked on in utter disbelief. This was something that Australia wanted. During a press conference on Saturday, Cummins had said his target would be to silence the packed crowd in Ahmedabad.
A stunning catch while running backwards by Travis Head had earlier seen India skipper Rohit Sharma walk back to the pavilion for 47, which included three sixes and four fours, while looking to accelerate the run rate. Shreyas Iyer started off with a four against Glenn Maxwell but an outside edge off Cummins saw him give an easy catch to Josh Inglis. The two wickets came in the space of five balls. Shubman Gill was the first to go, as he was caught at mid-on while trying a pull shot.
Kohli and KL Rahul then tried to consolidate India’s innings. After Kohli dismissal at 54, Ravindra Jadeja walked in. Rahul and Jadeja will now have to try and build another partnership with 20 overs left to bat yet.
After 30 over, India 158-4 (Jadeja 3, Rahul 43).
The match was also interrupted briefly in the first innings when a pitch invader, supporting Palestine in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, stormed across the turf and attempted to hug Kohli.
