Smith, Bailey propel Australia to win in series-opener
India’s highest ODI score against Australia in Australia and Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten 171 were not enough as centuries from Australian captain Steve Smith and George Bailey guided the team to a five-wicket victory in the first ODI of the five-match series at WACA on Tuesday.
Brief Scores:India 309/3 in 50 overs (Rohit 171*(163), Kohli 91(97), Faulkner 2/60) lost to Australia 310/5 in 49.2 overs (Smith 149(135), Bailey 112(120), Sran 3/56, Ashwin 2/68) by five wickets
As promised by the captain on the eve of the match, India went in with the three pacer-two spinner combination giving rookie left-arm pacer Barinder Sran a debut in the India colours. Manish Pandey occupied the No.6 spot left by Suresh Raina, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who came in as a replacement for the injured Shami, went straight into the XI to complete the three pacers quota along with Umesh Yadav and Sran.
Joel Paris and Scott Boland made their international debuts for the hosts under cloudy skies on the pitch at WACA.
Having won the toss, Indian captain M S Dhoni decided to bat first in what seemed to be pace-friendly conditions. However, Dhoni’s decision was proved right as the match progressed with the Indian batsman tearing into the inexperienced bowling line-up of the hosts. Dhawan and Rohit took a liking to Joel Paris in the initial overs by dispatching him to the boundary twice. Hazlewood kept a tight leash on the batsmen at the other end, and his consistent line and length led to the downfall of Dhawan in the sixth over. The left-hander went for a hook on the front foot, and the top edge carried easily to Mitchell Marsh at deep backward square.
Kohli joined Rohit in the middle next, and the duo took to the bowling to take the Indian innings forward. Rohit was in scintillating form in the middle as he continued his good form he displayed in the warm-up match to bring up his fifty off 63 balls, hitting four fours and a six. The Mumbai lad, who smashed Marsh for a six in the 23rd over, stepped out and lofted a loopy delivery from Maxwell straight down the ground for a six in the 27th over to add another six to his name.
Kohli also went guns blazing at the other end completing his fifty in 61 balls with a six over long-leg off Boland to take India past 160. Incidentally, it was also Kohli’s first fifty in Australia in ODIs against Australia. Australia captain Steven Smith tried rotating the bowlers again to again to break the batsmen’s rhythm, but it proved no avail as the duo continued their carnage. Rohit brought up the ninth century of his career off 122 balls in the 37th over with a steer to third man off Paris. The Mumbai cricketer also took India past the two hundred mark after two overs by sending Paris straight down the ground for a maximum.
The duo brought up their 200-run partnership off 218 balls in the 43rd over with Kohli pushing the ball towards midwicket for a single. Kohli’s innings ended nine runs away from a century after an ambitious shot off Faulkner found Finch at the long-on boundary and ending the 207-run partnership for the second wicket. Captain Dhoni walked in next and threw the kitchen sink at it from the word go as he smashed a four and six off Faulkner in consecutive overs. Rohit also joined the captain in upping the scoring rate by dispatching Boland for two sixes to go past 150. Dhoni’s quick fire 18 ended the next over with a brilliant catch from Boland off Faulkner removing the skipper. Jadeja and Rohit took India to 309/3 at the end of 50 overs with 14 runs coming off the last over.
Rohit’s 171 not out off 163 balls also became the highest score by a visiting batsman against Australia in Australia, beating Viv Richards’ score of 153 not out.
Chasing a target of 310, Aussies got off to the worst possible start losing Aaron Finch to debutant left-armer Barinder Sran in the third over. The Punjab lad needed no help from anyone else as he registered his maiden International wicket with a sharp return catch on his right-hand side. The 23-year added another in the next over sending back dangerous David Warner for 5 with the Aussie going for a lofted shot only to find Virat Kohli at mid-off.
He almost had his third in the next ball when George Bailey seemed to have gloved the ball down the leg side to Dhoni. However, umpire Richard Kettleborough showed no interest in the appeal from the Indians to give Bailey a lucky break. Bhuvneshwar Kumar also kept a tight leash on the batsmen from the other end to keep the Aussies' run rate under four an over.
Bailey and Smith stuck in and took the scoring rate up for the Aussies by taking Sran and Rohit for 11 runs in consecutive overs. The duo milked the spinners to bring their hundred-run partnership off 105 balls in the 23rd over. With Ashwin bowling all over the place and conceding more than nine runs per over, Dhoni was forced to give the ball to Virat Kohli to complete the overs.
Bailey brought up the third century of his career off 106 balls in the 36th over courtesy an overthrow from the Indians. The second 200-run partnership of the match also came up shortly after the century, and Smith joined his team-mate in the century club with a clip towards the leg side. Smith’s fifth century of his career came in 97 balls and included four boundaries and a six. The epic 242-run partnership finally came to an end in the 42nd over with Bailey holing out at long-off after stepping out and playing a lofted shot to Ashwin. In an interview after his innings, Bailey talked about the appeal at the start of the innings and said, “Would've been interesting to see on DRS, but we're not the team that doesn't want it.”
Maxwell came in and departed soon after playing an ambitious shot against Ashwin only for the ball to end up in the palms of Dhawan at long-off. With Smith at the crease, Australia’s win was a certainty, and the captain led from the front and brought the team two runs away from a victory before falling at 149 to Sran. Faulkner finished off the match with a single in the last over to give the hosts a five-wicket victory in the series-opener.
India will now look to level things up in the series in the second ODI at Brisbane on Friday, January 15.
India XI: Dhawan, Rohit, Kohli, Rahane, Dhoni (c), Manish Pandey, Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar, Ashwin, Umesh, Sran
Australia XI: Warner, Finch, Smith (c), Bailey, Maxwell, M Marsh, Wade (wk), Faulkner, Paris, Boland, Hazlewood
