A fan invaded the pitch and hugged Virat Kohli during World Cup 2023 final© X (formerly Twitter)
A fan invaded the pitch and hugged Virat Kohli in a massive security breach at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad during the Cricket World Cup 2023 final between India and Australia on Sunday. During the 14th over of the match, a fan with a ‘Free Palestine’ T-shirt rushed inside and went on to hug Kohli before he was detained by the stadium security. The fan was swiftly removed from the ground and the match was resumed without any delay. Earlier, Australian cricket team skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to field in the much-anticipated encounter against the Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team. (World Cup Final LIVE)
India skipper Rohit Sharma played another blinder before Australia bounced back to reduce the hosts to 97 for three in 15 overs in the Cricket World Cup 2023 final.
On expected lines, both teams did not make changes to their playing eleven.
On a slow and dry pitch, Australia put India in to bat, something Rohit Sharma wanted to do in front of a packed Narendra Modi Stadium.
Like he has done throughout the tournament, Rohit (47 off 31) took it upon himself to take the attacking route in the powerplay.
He had not succeeded in doing that in India’s league game against Australia but on the big stage, Rohit made sure he did not hold back against the world class pace duo of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlwood.
His onslaught began when he stepped out and creamed Hazlewood through the cover before collecting a streakish boundary over mid wicket. In all, he hit three sixes and four boundaries.
Shubman Gill (4 off 7) perished while playing a short arm jab and Virat Kohli joined Rohit in the middle. Kohli struck three consecutive fours off Starc to maintain the momentum generated by Rohit.
However, Rohit fell to a spectacular running catch from Travis Head and an over later Pat Cummins had Shreyas Iyer caught behind to put the pressure on the hosts.
(With PTI inputs)
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