Australia vs India 2018-19: 1st ODI Report: Hosts Take Lead Despite Rohit's Hundred
Published - 12 Jan 2019, 05:17 PM | Updated - 22 Aug 2024, 11:58 PM
Australia vs India 2018-19: 1st ODI Report: Australia won the opening match of the three-match series against India by 34 runs. Rohit Sharma scored a majestic 22nd hundred but Australia had enough in the bag to take a 1-0 lead in the series. In fact, Australia had India on the ropes as they had the tourists on 4-3 in the run-chase. Thus, it was always going to be an uphill task for the Indian team to chase down the target of 289 runs after Aaron Finch decided to bat first.
Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni added 137 runs for the fourth wicket to keep India breathing in the match. However, it was always going to be a miraculous chase. Dhoni took his time in the initial stages. However, the former skipper was able to rotate the strike with more authority after settling in.
Dhoni took 96 balls for his 51 runs. However, he could not carry on as he didn’t have the rub of the green on his side. The ball had landed outside the leg stump but Michael Gough gave the decision in favour of the hosts.
Subsequently, Rohit Sharma continued his tour de force innings. However, India’s vice-captain didn’t get any support from the other end as Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja got out in quick succession.
On the other hand, Jhye Richardson bowled with his tail up. The young pacer got the ball in the right areas and troubled the Indian batsmen. Richardson scalped four wickets and conceded only 26 runs in his quota of 10 overs to take away the Man of the match award.
Earlier in the innings, Australia posted 288 runs after batting first. Peter Handscomb was the top-scorer for the hosts as the right-hander scored a free-flowing inning of 73 runs. Furthermore, Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja scored fifties to help Australia in getting to a competitive score.
India’s batting was not up to the mark and they would like to turn the tables in the second ODI. The next match will take place at Adelaide on 15 January.
Brief Scores: Australia: 288-5, Peter Handscomb 73 (61), Kuldeep Yadav: 2-54.
India: 254-9, Rohit Sharma 133 (129), Jhye Richardson 4-26.
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