Defending 199 runs for a win, Australia would have thought they were on course when they put India on a mat 2 for three wickets down. But that was not to be, as Virat Kohli and KL Rahul's century partnership bailed out India to win the WC opener by six wickets.
If the talking points from Chepauk are to be believed, it was the dropped catch of Kohli by Mitchell Marsh was a turning point.
Many believe that had Kohli gotten out at that stage, Australia could have registered a win as the pressure was too much in the powerplay. Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood believes otherwise. He insists that the Aussies failed to put a good score while batting first and that was the reason for the defeat. Kohli was dropped in the eighth over off Hazlewood's bowling after Marsh made ample ground from the mid-wicket region, even as wicketkeeper Alex Carey also ran in, leading to confusion.
''No, I don't think so (it played a role), it was quite early obviously when that catch was dropped. I didn't think Carey could get there. I think it was Mitch's (Marsh) catch and probably just Carey got quite close in the end so it might have just put Mitch off,'' said Hazlewood after the game on Sunday.
''Yeah, he dropped a catch, it's one of those things that happens and everyone's training hard and working hard off the field to hang on to them. So, yeah, we will continue on," he added.
Australia's fast bowlers used the conditions well and got a purchase from the wicket. Hazlewood insisted that the new ball did the trick before dew made things difficult for them.
''We still felt that new ball was doing enough, whether it was in the air or off the wicket. We knew that spin was going to be tough to play, maybe not as tough as during the day, but still enough to play it. And, we certainly felt in the game for quite a while until obviously the partnership grew and grew and they (Kohli, Rahul) sort of batted us out of it obviously. I thought we did a reasonable job early in particular trying to defend 200,'' said the Aussie speedster.
''It obviously felt like it probably spun more in the first half. Definitely, the dew came in, but early in our bowling innings it was doing enough and it was still dry. The wicket was up and down a little bit so you felt in the game as a quick in particular and then it got a little bit better to bat on right towards the end,'' he added.
The Indian spinners Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav stifled the Australian batters on a hot afternoon to reduce Australia to a gettable score. Hazlewood was all praise for the Indian bowlers, especially left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who took two wickets, including that of David Warner when the batter was looking good for a big one.
''He's (Kuldeep) obviously done really well over the last 12 or 18 months. He's always been a good player. We've found him tough to play against. Not often you come up against a left-arm leg spinner with great variations, so it's sort of something that's hard to practice against,'' revealed Hazlewood.
''In general, the three spinners bowled really well. They are all a little bit different obviously, but they know the conditions really well and bowled accordingly," he mentioned.
Australia will play against South Africa at Lucknow in their next game.