ICC Cricket World Cup, Indian spinners shine against Australia: Stats
Indian spinners were completely on top of Australia in their opening match in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup in Chennai. The slow pitch of Chepauk aided the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav as they kept the Australian batters in check. The Indian spinners bowled brilliantly and kept accumulating wickets as Australia could only manage 199. Here's more.
First World Cup three-fer for Jadeja
Jadeja came to bowl after the first 15 overs and exerted great pressure on the Aussie batters by maintaining his discipline. He gave nothing away and also knocked over Steve Smith, just when he looked settled. Later, he got rid of Marnus Labuschagne and Alex Carey in quick succession to derail the Australian innings. The left-arm spinner has scalped 207 wickets across 187 ODIs.
A solid outing for Kuldeep Yadav
Kuldeep also bowled with a lot of confidence as the conditions suited his style. He varied his pace and didn't shy away from looking for wickets. He broke the crucial 65-run partnership between David Warner and Smith. It was a simple caught and bowled for the left-arm leggie. Kuldeep again struck when Glenn Maxwell played the wrong line and was knocked over.
Ravichandran Ashwin restricted the run flow
Ashwin also played his role pretty well as he bowled with a lot of discipline and gave nothing away to the Australians. The veteran used his home conditions very well and removed the inexperienced Cameron Green. He finished with 1/34 from his ten over which also included a maiden over. The 37-year-old has raced to 156 wickets in 116 ODI clashes at 33.20.
Australia registered an unwanted World Cup record
As per statistician Bharath Seervi, this is the first time in 40 years that the Australian batters have failed to score a 50-plus against India in an ICC Cricket World Cup match (full innings played). The last time this happened was back in the 1983 World Cup, which India eventually went on to win.
The second Indian with this record against Australia
Jadeja attained a massive feat after dismissing Smith. He has become only the second Indian to complete 100 international wickets against Australia at home. Jadeja joined veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh, who owns 105 international wickets against Australia at home. Overall, England's Stuart Broad is the only other bowler to have taken over 100 international wickets against Australia at home.
Smith has fallen to Jadeja five times in 2023
With this dismissal today, Smith has fallen to Jadeja five times in international cricket in 2023. The left-arm spinner dismissed him in the Nagpur Test, Indore Test, Ahmedabad Test, World Test Championship Final and now in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup opener.
Indian spin trio concedes 104 runs from 30 overs
The Indian spin trio of Ashwin, Jadeja and Kuldeep finished with figures of 1/34, 3/28, and 2/42 respectively. Jadeja bowled two maiden overs while Ashwin registered one. Collectively, they bowled 30 overs, giving away only 104 runs, three maidens and scalping six wickets.
