India beat Australia in the first ODI by 26 runs in a rain-curtailed match by DLS method. With 9 wickets down Australia needed 34 runs from the last over which was never going to happen. Only Glenn Maxwell could make a mark in the Australian batting lineup. Maxwell changed the game for a while as he struck three sixes in a row off Kuldeep Yadav. He scored at a strike rate of over 200 in his innings of 39 runs from 18 balls. Marcus Stoinis sued up deliveries and got out without scoring in double digits. Mathew Wade and Pat Cummins succumbed to the pressure as they gave up. James Faulkner tried to keep the run chase alive but could not succeed as India won by a comfortable margin.
Australian batting order got off to a horrible start as well. Debutant Hilton Cartwright could not make his mark as he got out for 1 from 8 balls. Skipper Steve Smith too got out after scoring 1, he got out playing a poor shot just a delivery after surviving a DRS call because of Umpire’s call. Travis Head too disappointed as Hardik Pandya impressed with the ball as well. Warner could not convert his start into a big score as he got out to Kuldeep.
The rain played spoilsport right after the first innings as the ground staff covered the ground. The players walked into the field with a reduced target of 238 runs from 37 overs but had to get back as rain played spoilsport once again. At the end, Australia needed 164 runs from 21 overs as the rain stopped just in nick of time.
Earlier India posted a fighting total of 281 for 7 in 50 overs despite getting off to a terrible start. After a batting collapse from India which saw Ajinkya Rahane getting out cheaply and Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey getting out for ducks, the hosts were in trouble. Rohit Sharma and Kedar Jadhav got starts but could not convert it into a big score.
MS Dhoni played the waiting game whereas Hardik Pandya fired after playing himself in. Pandya unleashed his wrath on Adam Zampa by hitting three sixes in a row for the first time in ODIs. The all-rounder scored his 3rd ODI fifty, he departed for 83 from 66 balls, a quickfire inning.
Dhoni reached a personal milestone scoring his 100th international fifty and becoming the fourth Indian to do so. Dhoni scored 79 off 88 balls before getting out in the last over. Bhuvneshwar Kumar chipped in with a cameo scoring 32 off 30 balls.
Man of the match: Hardik Pandya
Brief Scores:
India 281 for 7 in 50 overs (Hardik Pandya 83, MS Dhoni 79; Nathan Coulter-Nile 3 for 44, Marcus Stoinis 2 for 54) lost to Australia 137 for 9 in 21 overs (Glenn Maxwell 39, James Faulkner 32; Yuzvendra Chahal 3 for 30, Hardik Pandya 2 for 28) 26 runs (DLS method)
