3 times India's middle order stepped up in a World Cup match ft. 2011 final

India started their World Cup campaign with a clinical display against Australia in Chennai on Sunday, October 8. Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and R Ashwin starred on a pitch that offered assistance to spinners. They bundled out Australia for a total of 199 runs. KL Rahul and Virat Kohli then took center stage in a successful pursuit.

However, the chase was far from decisive. At one stage, they were reduced to 2-3 when Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer and Rohit Sharma all walked back inside the first couple of overs. What then followed was a match-winning partnership between Virat Kohli and KL Rahul as the two batters slowly played themselves in and then delivered the knockout punch.

Here we take a look at 3 times India's middle order stepped up in a World Cup match:

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#3 India vs Kenya, Cape Town, 2003

Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh starred with the bat

India took on Kenya in an important Super Six match of the 2003 World Cup. The latter benefitted from a favorable points system but were not a side that could be brushed aside. In this match, Steve Tikolo won the toss and batted first under cloudy skies.

Led by Javagal Srinath, the bowlers were disciplined and restricted Kenya to 225 in 50 overs. However, the Indian top order was sliced open by Thomas Odoyo and Martin Suji and they were reeling at 24 for three.

Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, and Mohammed Kaif were all back in the hut. Sourav Ganguly dug in and he found support from Rahul Dravid and then ended the match with a decisive stand with Yuvraj Singh.

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#2 India vs Zimbabwe, Auckland, 2015

Suresh Raina cracked a match-winning century

Suresh Raina slammed a dazzling century as India bounced back from an early batting collapse to beat Zimbabwe by six wickets. Raina's superb, unbeaten 110, combined with an equally crucial 85 from captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, saw his side chase down 288 in 48.4 overs.

Dhoni's men found themselves in a precarious position at 92 for four when MS Dhoni joined hands with Raina. Together, they started cautiously but then opened their shoulders and added an unbroken stand of 196 runs, establishing a new record for the fifth wicket in World Cup history. This partnership came in just 156 balls as India coasted to the target in the end.

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#1 India vs Sri Lanka, Mumbai, 2011

Dhoni, Gambhir played the tournament-winning role

India defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets in the final at the Wankhede Stadium back in 2011 to send the entire nation into a frenzy Sri Lanka had posted a formidable score of 274 on the back of a superb ton by Mahela Jayawardene.

In response, the hosts were rocked early when they lost both their openers for just 31 runs. Virat Kohli walked in at number four and stabilized the innings with Gautam Gambhir. However, he too was sent back by Tillakaratne Dilshan and the score read three wickets down for 114.

MS Dhoni promoted himself up the order, took on the Sri Lankan spinners and along with Gambhir, put the hosts firmly in pole position. Gambhir was dismissed for 97, but Dhoni stayed till the end and slammed a six to seal the deal and hand the country their second ODI World Cup.