Kohli's class, Rahul's grace fuel India's win over Australia

Chennai: Virat Kohli channelised his inner champion to pull the Indian team out of choppy waters with a masterly 85, which paved the way for a six-wicket victory over Australia in their opening match of the World Cup here on Sunday.

Kohli found a trusted ally in uber-cool KL Rahul (97 not out off 115 balls) during their matchwinning stand of 165 that eventually made the 200-run target seem like a cakewalk on a testing track although they took 41.2 overs to achieve it.

Their doughty alliance came after three Indian top-order batters returned to the pavilion without troubling the scorers. But equally responsible for India getting two points are their spinners.

Ravindra Jadeja (3/28 in 10 overs) along with Ravichandran Ashwin (2/34 in 10 overs) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/42 in 10 overs) made life miserable for the Australians while bowling them out for 199 in 49.3 overs.

But Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood were incisive during the first three overs as Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer were walked back for ducks and the scoreboard read a sorry 2/3.

The audacious Kohli, whom the Indian fans fall in love with again every day, showed the first glimpse of fightback and unfurled an elegant drive past pacer Hazlewood, a shot that was worth million dollars.

Gauging that the ball is not coming onto the bat, Kohli slightly put his front-foot across and showed full face of the bat, rather than being rooted to the crease. India weren't out of the woods at that point but it felt as if nothing was wrong.

However, it could well have been 12 for 4 in no time. Kohli mistimed a pull shot off Hazlewood but a running-in Mitchell Marsh failed to settle in properly under the ball as it slipped through his hand.

Skipper Rohit spoke about a bit of luck which is mandatory in big events and Marsh's big time bungle was exactly the rub of the green that the hosts needed at that moment.

It was the reprieve that Kohli needed and with the target not being a big one, he and Rahul focussed on rebuilding the innings with singles and twos. That 61 of his runs came through singles and doubles during his 116-ball knock stood as a testimony to his fitness.

For nearly 50 deliveries, he didn't hit a boundary until Cameron Green's military medium pace was introduced -- two deliveries on the pads were clipped away with disdain.

Once he reached 50 off 75 balls, Kohli pulled a slow bouncer from Pat Cummins towards deep midwicket. Starc hit him flush on the helmet with a short delivery when Kohli was batting in the 70s.

A concussion test was done and two balls later, a square driven four reiterated that 'Batter Kohli' can't be unnerved that easily.

Just when it looked like Kohli was cruising to his 48th ODI hundred, his pull off Hazlewood found Marnus Labuschagne.

Brief scores: Australia: 199 all out in 49.3 overs (Steven Smith 46, David Warner 41; Ravindra Jadeja 3/38, Kuldeep Yadav 2/42, Jasprit Bumrah 2/35). India: 201/4 in 41.2 overs (Virat Kohli 85, KL Rahul 97 not out; Josh Hazlewood 3/38)