India got off to a horrendous start in the run chase against Australia in their campaign opener in the ODI World Cup 2023. Skipper Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan departed without scoring a single run. They became the second opening pair for India to get out for a duck in an ODI World Cup match.
The first instance was in the 1983 World Cup when Sunil Gavaskar and Kris Srikkanth bagged ducks against Zimbabwe in the iconic match where skipper Kapil Dev scored his career-best 175 not out.
Also, the last time both Indian openers were out for a duck in an ODI was nearly two decades ago. In 2004, Sanjay Bangar and Parthiv Patel got out without troubling scorers against Zimbabwe in Adelaide. This is the seventh instance of openers getting out for a duck in a World Cup game.
After coming out to bat at no.4, Shreyas Iyer got out for a duck as well. India were reduced to 2/3. This is India’s lowest score for the fall of the third wicket in ODIs. The previous lowest was against Zimbabwe when India lost three wickets for four runs against Zimbabwe in 2004. Also, against Australia in 2019, India were 4/3 in Sydney.
It was also the first time three out of India’s top four batters have been dismissed for a duck in ODIs.
In the first over, it was Mitchell Starc who got the ball rolling with the wicket of Ishan Kishan who went chasing after a full and wide delivery. In the next over, Josh Hazlewood dismissed Rohit lbw. In the same over, Iyer played a rash shot and got caught by David Warner at covers.
Australia’s left-arm pacer Starc achieved a major milestone as well. He became the fastest to 50 wickets in ODI World Cup breaking Lasith Malinga’s record. He is also the fifth bowler to achieve the feat in the tournament’s history to complete 50 wickets.
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