India survived an early scare to beat Australia by six wickets in their opening match of the ICC World Cup in Chennai on Sunday, reported the 24NewsHD TV channel.
Chasing just 200 to win, India were struggling at three for two, but KL Rahul (97 not out) and Virat Kohli (85) helped the home team overcome the Australian challenge and earn a six-wicket win.
Earlier, Australia set a 200-run target for India in a key clash of the ODI World Cup. Ravindra Jadeja led India's spin charge with figures of 3-28 to bowl out Australia for 199 in 49.3 overs.
Five-time champions Australia won the toss and elected to bat first at Chennai's M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in the 150th ODI meeting between the two cricket powerhouses, who opened their campaigns in the showpiece event.
But the Australian innings ended in 49.3 overs as Jadeja stood out in his 10 overs of left-arm spin. Fellow spinner Kuldeep Yadav and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets each.
Australia lost an early wicket before veteran batsmen David Warner (41) and Steve Smith (46) hit back in a partnership of 69.
Former captain Virat Kohli made an early impact with a diving slip catch to send back Mitchell Marsh, for a six-ball duck, off Bumrah.
The left-handed Warner reached 1,000 World Cup runs, passing Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar's previous best landmark.
Warner needed 19 innings to Tendulkar's 20.
Both Warner and Smith made their experience count with a steady approach on a tough batting pitch as India rotated their bowlers.
Kuldeep, a left-arm wrist spinner, broke the stand to send back Warner, caught and bowled amid a roar from the crowd that nearly filled the stadium in contrast to the empty seats in the other matches so far.
Smith stuck around with Marnus Labuschagne as runs came at a premium and a miserly Jadeja got his first wicket with his left-arm spin.
He bowled Smith to deny the former captain his fifty and then struck twice in his next over including wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey for a duck to rattle the opposition batting.
Wickets kept tumbling and Australia slipped further when Glenn Maxwell fell for 15, bowled off Kuldeep and Cameron Green out to Ravichandran Ashwin.
Australia collapsed from 110-2 to 140-7 before skipper Pat Cummins hit the first six of the match, but fell for 15 in another attempt to hit the ball beyond the boundary.
Number nine Mitchell Starc hit 28 to add some respect to the total.
Scoreboard of the World Cup match between India and Australia in Chennai on Sunday:
Australia
D. Warner c and b Kuldeep 41
M. Marsh c Kohli b Bumrah 0
S. Smith b Jadeja 46
M. Labuschagne c Rahul b Jadeja 27
G. Maxwell b Kuldeep 15
A. Carey lbw b Jadeja 0
C. Green c Pandya b Ashwin 8
P. Cummins c Iyer b Bumrah 15
M. Starc c Iyer b Mohammed Siraj 28
A. Zampa c Kohli b Pandya 6
J. Hazlewood not out 1
Extras (lb6, w6) 12
Total (all out, 49.3 overs) 199
Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Marsh), 2-74 (Warner), 3-110 (Smith,), 4-119 (Labuschagne), 5-119 (Carey), 6-140 (Maxwell), 7-140 (Green), 8-165 (Cummins), 9-189 (Zampa), 10-199 (Starc)
Bowling: Bumrah 10-0-35-2 (w4), Siraj 6.3-1-26-1 (w2), Pandya 3-0-28-1, Ashwin 10-1-34-1-3, Kuldeep 10-0-42-2, Jadeja 10-2-28-3
India (target 200)
R. Sharma lbw b Hazlewood 0
I. Kishan c Green b Starc 0
V. Kohli c Labuschagne b Hazlewood 85
S. Iyer c Warner b Hazlewood 0
KL Rahul not out 97
H. Pandya not out 11
Extras (b1, lb1, nb1, w5) 8
Total (4 wickets, 41.2 overs) 201
Did not bat: R. Jadeja, R. Ashwin, K. Yadav, J. Bumrah, M. Siraj
Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Kishan), 2-2 (Rohit), 3-2 (Iyer), 4-167 (Kohli)
Bowling: Starc 8-0-31-1 (w3), Hazlewood 9-1-38-3 (w1), Cummins 6.2-0-33-0 (w1, nb1), Maxwell 8-0-33-0, Green 2-0-11-0, Zampa 8-0-53-0
Result: India won by 6 wickets
Toss: Australia
Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZL), Richard Kettleborough (ENG)
TV Umpire: Chris Brown (NZL)
Match Referee: Richie Richardson (WIS)
Playing IXs
Australia: D Warner, M Marsh, S Smith, M Labuschagne, G Maxwell, A Carey (wk), C Green, P Cummins (capt), M Starc, A Zampa, J Hazlewood.
India: R Sharma (capt), I Kishan, V Kohli, S Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), H Pandya, R Jadeja, R Ashwin, J Bumrah, K Yadav, M Siraj