Brilliant bowling from Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj followed by a patient half-century from KL Rahul as India beat Australia by five wickets in the first ODI of the three-match series on Friday.
On the basis of three wickets of Siraj and Shami, India defeated Australia by 35. Collected for 188 runs in 4 overs. In response, India’s start was also very poor and in the fifth over itself, Mitchell Starc sent Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav cheaply. After this, however, Rahul (75 not out) and Ravindra Jadeja (45 not out) shared an unbroken 108-run partnership for the sixth wicket to take the team to 191 for five in 39.5 overs.
Jadeja also took two wickets in bowling and on the basis of all-round play, he was elected ‘Player of the Match’. Rahul, who has been facing criticism due to his poor form for a long time, played the role of the facilitator of the innings, scoring 75 runs in 91 balls with the help of seven fours and a six. At the same time, Jadeja scored 45 runs in 69 balls which included five fours.
India lost three wickets for 16 runs in the fifth over in this series, important for the preparation of the ODI World Cup to be held later this year. In the second over, Marcus Stoinis sent Ishaan Kishan (three) to the pavilion. In-form Shubman Gill also became the victim of Mitchell Starc by scoring 20 runs, whose catch was caught by Labushen. Starc’s next victim was the champion batsman Virat Kohli who could score only four runs while Suryakumar Yadav could not even open the account.
Acting captain Hardik Pandya became the victim of Stoinis after scoring 25 runs. After this Rahul and Jadeja took charge. Earlier, Australia lost the last six wickets within 19 runs in 7.5 overs. Pandya’s decision to call Shami early in the second spell proved to be correct. Cameron Green was dismissed by Shami on a fine ball. He took three wickets for eight runs in three overs in his second spell.
The score would have been worse had it not been for Mitchell Marsh’s 65-ball 81 for Australia. Shami took three wickets for 17 runs in six overs. On the other hand, Siraj, who got India success in the second over, bowled brilliantly in the second spell. He took three wickets for 29 runs in 5.4 overs. Marsh gave Australia a great start by hitting ten fours and five sixes in his innings.
After a heel operation, he returned after taking a break of three months. Marsh continued to score runs at one end but wickets kept falling at the other end. Siraj sent Travis Head to the pavilion in the second over. Marsh then shared a 72-run partnership with captain Steve Smith. Smith scored 22 runs in 30 balls, which was dismissed by Pandya.
Marsh was heading towards his second century but Ravindra Jadeja dashed his hopes. He scored his last century against India in January 2016. Marsh caught the third man on the ball going outside the off-stump. Jadeja then took a brilliant one-handed catch by Marnus Labuschagne off Kuldeep Yadav.
Shami dismissed Josh Inglis when Australia’s score was 169 for five in the 28th over. Shami dismissed Green in the 30th over. Shubman Gill caught the catch of Marcus Stoinis (five) in the 32nd over off Shami’s own ball. Glenn Maxwell (eight) caught Pandya at short midwicket off Jadeja’s ball. While the Indian pacers bowled economically, Kuldeep and Jadeja gave away 94 runs in 17 overs and took three wickets each.
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