Rohit Sharma scored his 22nd One Day International hundred but failed to drive India past the victory line in the first match of three-ODI series against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday. Under the captaincy of Aaron Finch, Australia won the first ODI by 34 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series, which is being seen as a platform to prepare for the forthcoming ICC World Cup. While Rohit Sharma scored 133 runs off 129 balls, wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni impressed with a 96-ball 51. No other Indian batsman managed to contribute much with the willow. Jhye Richardson claimed four wickets, while Jason Behrendorff and Marcus Stoinis took two wickets each as Australia restricted India to 254/9 in their allotted 50 overs. Earlier, Australian Test discard Peter Handscomb top scored with 73 off 61 balls to power Australia to 288 for five. The Australians, who have won just three of their last 24 ODIs, won the toss but fell short of the 327 average score from the five most recent Sydney Cricket Ground ODIs. The visitors looked well placed to chase down the total, with the two highest run chases at the SCG -- 334 by Australia against England in 2011 and 331 by India against the home side in 2016 -- well above their target. Following the first-ever Test series win Down Under, India were confident to make a positive start in the ODI series. The three match series is a good chance to get the combination right for the much awaited World Cup to be played in England.
The top-order seemed settled with the likes of Kohli, Rohit, Rayudu and Dhawan. The team has Dhoni and Jadhav who could turn the match at will. In case Pandya is left out, Ravindra Jadeja will probably replace the Baroda all-rounder and partner left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav in India's five-pronged bowling attack, with Kedar Jadhav fulfilling any part-time bowling duties if needed.
Much attention will also be on former India captain Dhoni who will like get some runs under his belt as he is expected to be one of the vital cogs in India's campaign at this year's ODI World Cup. The World Cup winning skipper has managed 275 runs in his last 20 ODIs at an average 25 without a half-century. The worrying aspect is Dhoni's strike-rate of 71.42, which is remarkably lower than his ODI career strike-rate of 87.89.
India vs Australia 1st ODI
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That ends the SCG contest. A rare India loss, that too in an ODI. Against a triply-weakened Aussie unit. Spare a thought for Rohit Sharma though. His 10th series or tournament in a row where he has scored at least one century. But all is not lost yet as 2 ODIs are yet to be played. We now move to Adelaide, which hosts the second ODI on Tuesday, January 15, 2019. Australia will be buoyed with this win but beware of the wounded Indian Tigers. The game begins at 1.50 pm local (0320 GMT). ADIOS! TAKE CARE!
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Man of the Match, Jhye Richardson, says he is happy with his performance, especially against a quality side. Credits the way India tried to come back in the game. States Kohli's wicket was very special for him, especially in a run chase. Mentions they are clear about what they have to do as a bowling unit and it came off today. Ends by saying they assessed the conditions well and bowled according to it.
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Victorious Australian skipper, Aaron Finch, says he is very pleased with the performance. Admits they did get nervous when Dhoni and Rohit were batting. On his team's batting, Finch says that the plan was to bat deep as can be seen from the scorecard, to get a competitive total on the board. He feels they had a par score as the dew was not going to play a big factor. Credits the way Khawaja, Marsh and Handscomb played. Further adds they batted really well in the middle period and finished off things well. Mentions the newbies bowled really well and both of them (Behrendorff and Jhye) have a good future ahead. Ends by saying there is still a lot of room for improvement though.
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Indian skipper, Virat Kohli, says they are not pleased with the way they played. Mentions they were good with the ball but were not upto the mark with the bat. Credits the way Rohit played and further adds he was supported well by Dhoni. Reckons they tried to take the game deep but the latter got out out at the wrong time. He feels they needed one more good partnership and the story could have been different. States Rayudu and Shikhar got good deliveries, he hit the ball well but was unfortunate. He adds though that those won't stop them from playing their shots. Ends by saying this is a learning curve and they hope to correct their mistakes in the games further.
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Small moments. How they sometimes cost big. Bhuvi going for 40 in his last 3 overs. India losing by 34. Australia wasting a review on Rohit - did not matter but almost paid the price for it. Ambati Rayudu's review - should India have taken it? Had they not, then Dhoni could have used it to his advantage. Anyways, life is nothing without ifs and buts. Please do stay tuned for the presentation...
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Wow. Australia's bowling. No Starc. No Hazlewood. No Cummins. No Coulter-Nile. No Tye. Yet they won. Quadruple wow. They were lucky to get a couple of cheap wickets but then were professional enough to build on that and not let India in. Debutant Jason Behrendorff did well to finish with a 2-fer but Jhye Richardson was the pick of the bowlers with 4/26 in his 10. Nathan Lyon did a good holding job but the early damage had helped all the bowlers, even if they went for a hit towards the end.
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Rohit then tried to saviour a one-man show but eventually, the task became too monumental for him. He got no support from the others. Factor this - when Rohit was at the crease, only Dhoni and Jadeja crossed double figures.
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Normally, when you have a stand taking so many balls, it cannot be broken without compensating. Dhoni and Rohit tried to change the tempo but then the former got a rough call which probably changed the game.
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A good start is key to a good finish. India lacked that in this game. 1/1, 4/2 became 4/3. The visitors could not recover after that. Well, one can say they tried. Dhoni and Rohit stopped the wicket-flow, got a partnership going but that was not helping the task as the boundaries were not coming frequently. The stand was worth 137 but it consumed 171 balls.
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A comfortable win for Australia in the end. Not many would have imagined this. 288 on this track, which was seeing 30-40 runs short, has actually proved to be 34 runs too many.