Rohit Sharma scored an unbeaten 171 for India in the first ODI against Australia in Perth. The hosts chased it down easily to win by five wickets. India were 243/2 in 44.3 overs.
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All-rounder Mitch Marsh, who will be rested from the second one-dayer in an attempt to nurse his body through the series, grabbed at his troublesome hamstrings a few times throughout India’s innings. Now what it will do is fuel the DRS debate once again.
India vs Australia has always been a contest with lots of runs, wickets and a bit of that we-don’t-really-like-you-so-let’s-crank-the-intensity-a-couple-of-notches.
The former Australian skipper was also full of praise for the current captain who has developed a penchant for scoring hundreds against India at will.
However, a decisive third-wicket partnership of 242 only came after a glove down the leg side from Bailey, off India debutant Barinder Sran, went unnoticed. However, the side did well when they had both Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin in the line-up for the games they played in Perth previous year.
Bailey and enigmatic captain Steve Smith made the Indians pay as they put together a wonderful 272-run partnership that spanned the next 37 overs as they cruised to victory.
As Virat posted his half-century, Rohit eased past his hundred to pile in the woes for the hosts. This was Rohit’s ninth ODI ton in 144 ODIs. After Shikhar Dhawan’s early dismissal, Kohli and Rohit curbed their natural strokemaking instincts to see out the opening passage of play without losing further wickets.
Sharma and Kohli were quite confident in their approach and brought up the 50-run stand in 63 balls. “He was exceptional. He is a terrific one day player and it surprises me that he does not turn this performances in Tests”, Ganguly said of Sharma’s unbeaten 171 that helped India set a competitive 310 to defend against Australia at Perth in their first ODI Down Under.
Despite not registering a win against the Aussies, the last tour was touted as the turning point for the next generation according to Team Director Ravi Shastri and Test skipper Virat Kohli. A clever AB de Villiers-esque shot played off the bowling of James Faulkner summed up the confidence with which the man from Mumbai was batting – as Sharma became the fastest person to score a 1,000 ODI runs against Australia. Josh Hazlewood, James Faulkner and Mitchell Marsh make up the rest of the bowling line-up, with Glenn Maxwell as a back-up spin option.
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Before the teams move on to Brisbane for the second game on January 15, Bleacher Report has picked out the winners and losers from the series opener.
