It’s all over! Australia beat India by 34 runs in the first ODI to take a 1-0 lead in the series
The last over was just a formality with India still needing 42 runs. Yet Bhuvi tried and also got a four but it wasn’t enough as Shami fell on the last ball with India finishing on 254/9.
Australia had a sluggish inning and it felt that they had put on a below-par score. But it was all about India’s top-order, and from 4-3 India could only recover to finish at 254. It was clearly too much to do despite Rohit Sharma’s brilliance. MS Dhoni’s slow half-century has already triggered a lot of debate, but there is only so much he could do with the top order collapse.
Man of the Match, Jhye Richardson, said- he is happy with his performance, especially against a quality side. Credits the way India tried to come back in the game. States Virat’s wicket was very special for him. Mentions they are clear about what they have to do as a bowling unit and it came off today. Ends by saying they assessed the conditions well and bowled according to it.
Victorious Australian skipper, Aaron Finch, says he is very pleased with the performance. Admits they did get nervous when Dhoni and Rohit were batting. On his team’s batting, Finch says that the plan was to bat deep as can be seen from the scorecard, to get a competitive total on the board. He feels they had a par score as the dew was not going to play a big factor. Credits the way Khawaja, Marsh, and Handscomb played. Further adds they batted really well in the middle period and finished off things well. Mentions the newbies bowled really well and both of them (Behrendorff and Jhye) have a good future ahead. Ends by saying there is still a lot of room for improvement though.
Indian skipper, Virat Kohli, says they are not pleased with the way they played. Mentions they were good with the ball but were not up to the mark with the bat. Credits the way Rohit played and further adds he was supported well by Dhoni. Reckons they tried to take the game deep but the latter got out at the wrong time. He feels they needed one more good partnership and the story could have been different. States Rayudu and Shikhar got good deliveries, he hit the ball well but was unfortunate. He adds though that those won’t stop them from playing their shots. Ends by saying this is a learning curve and they hope to correct their mistakes in the games further.
Well, there were few stages where India lost the momentum and how they sometimes cost big. Bhuvi going for 40 in his last 3 overs, Dhoni again in that Slow zone and not converting after getting the start and moreover when India could have been taken the driving seat.
If we see the Australian they were back in retro form, the team played as one – even after losing the test series for the first time against India in Australia. Their bowling was superb even after No Starc. No Hazlewood. No Cummins. No Coulter-Nile. No Tye. Yet they won.
They were lucky to get a couple of cheap wickets but then were professional enough to build on that and not let India in. Debutant Jason Behrendorff did well to finish with a 2-for but Jhye Richardson was the pick of the bowlers with 4/26 in his 10. Nathan Lyon did a good holding job but the early damage had helped all the bowlers, even if they went for a hit towards the end.
A couple of milestones were also achieved in this match as Australia become the first team to win 1,000 international matches.
Rohit Sharma has now scored at least a century in each of his last 10 ODI series/tournament, starting from ICC Champions Trophy – 2017. He also equals Sourav Ganguly’s record for 22 ODI hundreds and 7 against Australia only two short of Master Blaster.
“Daddy” Hundred for Hitman@ImRo45 brings up his 22nd ODI ton off 110 deliveries 😎👏👏#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/fxfJVOedY4
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 12, 2019
Rohit’s century in vain as Australia win the 1st ODI by 34 runs. Series 1-0 now #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/RlcDGlEGSD
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 12, 2019
The former skipper also had something to cheer about as he crosses 10,000 run mark and only fifth Indian to achieve this.
MS Dhoni completes 10,000 ODI runs for India, becoming only the fifth from his country to do so. #AUSvIND
Details ⏬https://t.co/AeDmroyU2d pic.twitter.com/Z4DcSOq7kC
— ICC (@ICC) January 12, 2019
