India won by 6 wickets against Australia and KL Rahul won the Player of the Match for his 97*.
Australia had opted to bat first after winning the toss and only David Warner (41) and Steve Smith (46), along with Mitchell Starc (28) were able to stand up to Indian bowlers. They were bowled out for 199 runs with Ravindra Jadeja starring with 3/28. Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets, while R Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj, and Hardik Pandya took one wicket each.
Josh Hazlewood then rocked India with the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer for ducks and Mitchell Starc dismissed Ishan Kishan for a duck as well. At 2/3, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul got together and withered the initial storm.
They then took advantage of open field and poor spin bowling from Glenn Maxwell and Adam Zampa and built a 165-run partnership. Kohli looked good for a hundred but got out for 85 runs, but KL Rahul was looking to get to his hundred.
India needed 5 runs from 54 balls and Rahul needed 9 runs to get to his hundred. He was facing Pat Cummins and decided to loft him over covers for a four. However, he ended up hitting the ball too well, as it sailed over the ropes for a six.
This sent KL Rahul in shock and to his knees, as it took some time for him to smile after realizing that India had won the match.
After receiving the Player of the Match, KL Rahul talked to the commentators about that six and revealed his thought process.
“Quite honestly not a lot of conversation, I thought I’d get a good shower and get a break. I was just trying to get my breath back. Virat said there’s a bit in the wicket, so play like Test cricket for a while. There was a bit of help for the pacers with the new ball, and then the spinners also. In the last 15-20 overs, dew played a part and that helped quite a bit. The ball also skidded on better. However, it was a bit two-paced, it wasn’t the easiest of wickets to bat on and it wasn’t flat as well. It was a good cricket wicket, bit for the batters and the bowlers. That’s what you get in the south of India, especially Chennai. (On the last six) I hit it too well, I just calculated how to get to a 100 in the end. The only way for four and a six, but no qualms on not getting to that hundred,” KL Rahul was quoted by Star Sports.
Check out his expression of disbelief here: