India took a 1-0 lead in the first ODI of the five-match India- Australia One Day Series by winning the first match rather comfortably. The Indian bowlers bowled did well to restrict the Australians to a score of 236 runs on a sticky wicket. Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah opened the bowling for India after Aaron Finch the Australian captain, won the toss and decided to bat. This is a good start for India who had earlier lost the T20 series to Australia 2-0.
Mohammed Shami bowled incisively throughout starting with a spell of 4-2-6-0. It was, however, Bumrah who dismissed Aaron Finch, with a snorter on the latter's 100th appearance for Australia in ODIs, for a duck. The ball brushed Finch’s glove before going to Dhoni behind the stumps. Bumrah finished his first spell with figures of 4-1-17-1. Vijay Shankar though leaked 22 runs off his three overs when he came to replace Shami. Khawaja and Stoinis happily preyed on his batsmen friendly medium paced balls bowled short of a length.
Kedar Jadhav got the wicket of Stoinis after, along with Khawaja, he had put together a partnership of 86 runs. The wily Kuldeep Yadav then dismissed Khawaja off a flighted ball for after the Australian had scored 50 runs. Vijay Shankar took a good catch running twenty yards to his right at mid-wicket. Handscomb got lured by a flighted Kuldeep Yadav ball which turned and found the gap between his bat and the pad. Dhoni, behind the stumps gladly obliged, by stumping him. Australia was 133 for 4 wickets at this stage with 30 overs gone.
Mohammed Shami, back for his second spell, got the wicket of Ashton Turner who had hit him for a six in the previous over. Turner tried to cut his off cutter and got a bottom edge on to his stumps. In his very next over Mohammed Shami clean bowled Glen Maxwell for a well compiled 40 runs off one that nipped back off the seam from outside the off stump. Coulter-Nile came in to bat when Australia were 170 for six with 40 overs gone. The Australian innings came to an end at 236 for seven when Coulter-Nile was claimed by Bumrah, caught at long-on, off the penultimate ball of the inning.
Shikhar Dhawan did not bother the scorers when India replied and got out to the first ball that he faced from Coulter-Nile. Virat Kohli (44) together with Rohit Sharma put together a patient 76 run partnership with Rohit Sharma before he was out leg before to an Adam Zampa ball that had to be referred to the third Umpire. It was at this point that there was a slight flutter in the Indian innings. Between the 17th and the 24th over, India lost the three wickets of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ambati Rayadu. While Sharma was caught off a leading edge off Coulter-Nile at mid-off, Rayadu succumbed to Zampa’s guiles, getting caught behind off a leg break.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav thereafter started rebuilding the Indian innings from 99 for 4 wickets. They started accumulating runs in singles and two with the odd boundary coming along. It was only when India needed 48 runs from 48 balls that Jadhav changed gear and started attacking the bowling. Dhoni finished the chase with two hits to the boundary off Stoinis in the 49th over giving India a 1-0 lead in the series. Dhoni finished his innings with 59 runs off 72 balls while Jadhav had compiled an impressive 81 off 87 balls. Jadhav also had bowling figures of 7-0-30-1 and was awarded the Man of the Match trophy.
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