Australia vs India 1st ODI: Why India lost a winnable match?

The target seemed good enough for India to defend. But the ease with which Australia chased it down was almost perplexing. True, it was a batting wicket, and chasing down a target on belters is easy. Still 310 was a huge target to chase on the pitch at WACA, but India's lackluster bowling line-up made it easy for them. That makes the task tougher for the batsmen as they have an added responsibility of scoring 20-30 runs more than a normal par score.

What cost India the match more than anything was the number of dot balls. 

There is a massive difference between the number of dot balls played by the Indians and by the Australians. The numbers show that Australia rotated the strike more than India. India played 144 dot balls in their innings, while Australia only had 114 dot balls to their name. That is a difference of at least 30 runs, which might have cost India the match.

Also, the chart shows that the top three highest percentages of dot balls played have been by Indians. Shikhar Dhawan, at the start, took loads of deliveries to get settled, and then could not manage to get a score big enough to justify playing all those deliveries. It can be understood that after the loss of an early wicket Rohit and Virat had to play sensibly under pressure, but had they rotated the strike a little better, things could have been different. Taking nothing away from their sublime knocks, on a batting-friendly track and keeping their bowling attacks in mind, they needed to pull off a score above par.

Aussies on the other hand, simply did not waste any deliveries; Steve Smith’s dot ball percentage is simply phenomenal. It is almost 15% better than India’s best batsman in the match. George Bailey played well too and his dot-ball percentage is around 40 only. That is the percentage that Indian batsmen needed to have. Things could have gone a lot different had India scored 10-15 more runs.

Let’s now compare India’s innings with Australia's innings phase by phase. 

If we compare them, India has been by far the better team in the first ten overs and the last ten overs. India scored at a rate of above five in the first ten with the loss of only one wicket, whereas Australia could only manage a run rate of exactly four with the loss of two wickets. The middle overs are where India lost the plot a little, but even then the numbers are not that bad for a normal match, but on such a flat wicket, this just wasn’t sufficient. Australia, on the other hand, managed to have a lot more in the middle overs by scoring at a rate of almost seven between the overs 11-40. India, in this same phase, scored only at a rate of above five. That is where the difference was created. Even though India went flying in the last ten by scoring at a rate of above nine, there was no need for Australia to go all guns blazing in the last ten with the win in sights.

In the end, India has a lot of positives to take to Brisbane for the second ODI. The batting came together. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli produced magnificent knocks for the away team to take them to their highest score in ODIs in Australia against Australia. Ashwin and Jadeja's performance will be the biggest worry for the Indians, and Dhoni would have a lot on his mind before the second ODI - to play two spinners or to play Rishi Dhawan as the fast-bowling all-rounder. As he procrastinates on that thought, Barinder Sran's arrival on the International scene will be the biggest joy for every Indian cricket fan as the caravan moves over to Brisbane.