Virat Kohli tried his best to get under the skin of Marnus Labuschagne in an attempt to unsettle him during the ongoing final of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 between India and Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. India needed a strong start with the ball after posting a modest total of 240 runs. And India’s fast bowlers provided the team with the perfect start.
Mohammed Shami struck on his very first delivery once again to remove the dangerous David Warner for just 7 runs. This was followed by a 25-run stand between Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh before Jasprit Bumrah quickly dismissed Marsh and Steve Smith to reduce Australia to 47 for 3.
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Marnus Labuschagne arrived at the crease after the dismissal of Steve Smith and Virat Kohli wasted no time in giving him a hard time. The former India skipper was constantly in Labuschagne’s ears and was seen saying something in an animated manner. Virat Kohli and Labuschagne had a tense stare-off too as the former tried all he could to make sure that the latter did not get settled in comfortably.
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— Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka (@Hanji_CricDekho) November 19, 2023
Regarding the game, Australia were on 192 for 35 after 33 overs. Head was batting on 107 while Labuschagne was on 41. The partnership between the two was now worth 127 runs and India was desperate to break the stand. Earlier in the game, half-centuries from KL Rahul and Virat Kohli helped the hosts post 240 runs in the allotted 50 overs.
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Virat Kohli has had a remarkable outing in the 2023 World Cup. He is the leading run-scorer in the competition with 765 runs from 11 matches. The India star has also scored 3 centuries and 6 half-centuries. He now holds the record for scoring the most runs in a single edition of the World Cup.
The record was previously held by the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. Earlier in the competition, Kohli also scored his 50th ODI century to break Tendulkar’s record for most ODI tons.