In a rain-interrupted game, Australia spoiled the return of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma by dismissing them early and sealing a seven-wicket victory in the first ODI. The hosts also recorded their first-ever win in this format at Optus Stadium, Perth.
Right from the start, things didn’t go India’s way. After losing a 16th consecutive toss in the format, India were forced to bat first in seam-friendly conditions. The seasoned duo of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood were right on the money. While the former found some swing by pitching the ball up, the latter was content to hit the good-length area.
Hazlewood’s hard length nipped out Rohit, while Kohli, for the umpteenth time in his career, was dismissed chasing a wide delivery from Starc. Then, Shubman Gill, who struck a couple of good-looking boundaries, was strangled down the leg side to give Nathan Ellis his first wicket.
Both Rohit and Kohli, particularly the latter, looked rusty. Having not played any form of cricket since the IPL, their struggles were clear. Rohit had failed to put bat on ball in three successive deliveries before his dismissal.
Kohli never looked comfortable during his short stay, missing three of the seven deliveries he faced before his dismissal, including a maiden over.
With one straight drive and one cover drive, Gill looked set for a big innings. There was conviction in his shot-making before a lapse in concentration led to his downfall.
At the first rain break, India were already in strife, and the subsequent interruptions did nothing to help their cause, robbing them of any momentum. Shreyas Iyer, who attempted to stabilise the innings, was dismissed during one of those short restarts.
With each delay, the number of overs was reduced. When the match was shortened to 26 overs, KL Rahul came out all guns blazing, lifting his team from 50/4 in 16 overs to 136/9 in 26, with support from Axar Patel’s 31 and Nitish Kumar Reddy’s cameo. A total of 86 runs were scored in the final 10 overs. India arguably missed a trick by sending in Washington Sundar, who scored 10 off 10 balls, ahead of Nitish. Australia were home in 21.1 overs.
Tactically, Mitchell Marsh was very sound. The Australian skipper used his premier bowlers before the rain breaks and got the most out of them.
Due to the DLS method, the target was reduced to 131 in the allotted 26 overs.
India needed early wickets to break open Australia’s inexperienced middle-order, which included two debutants. Travis Head was dismissed early. Axar removed Matthew Short, giving India a small window of hope. However, the visitors couldn’t get Marsh out. He made an unbeaten 46 and anchored his team to the target with support from Josh Philippe, who scored a quickfire 37.
After conceding nine runs in his first over, Mohammed Siraj came back well, but was unlucky not to take a wicket. At times, Harshit Rana bowled well, but also conceded several boundary balls.
Arshdeep Singh, who dismissed Head, was given only two overs in his first spell. When he returned for his second spell, the target was down to 32 runs. Gill missed a trick by not using his wicket-taking options more at the start.
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