Chennai: Hurricane Hardik (Pandya) and the rain blew away the Aussies as they lost the first of five ODI games by 26 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here, Sunday. After India had scored 281 for seven in 50 overs, rain intervened and the Aussies were asked to get 164 in 21 overs. They ended on 137 for nine.
Pandya (83, 66b, 5×4, 5×6) along with Mahendra Singh Dhoni (79, 88b, 4×4, 2×6) put on 118 runs for the sixth wicket to rescue India from 11 for three and 87 for five. Then when Australia batted Pandya (2/28) chipped in with the ball getting rid of skipper Steve Smith (1) and Travis Head (5) to stifle their chase.
Except for Glenn Maxwell (39, 18b, 3×4, 4×6) who took the attack to the Indian bowlers, none of the other Aussie batters failed to pose a challenge to the Indian attack. The wrist spin of Yuzvendra Chahal (3/30) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/33) were well-supported by Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah (1/20) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/25). Only once when Maxwell hit 22 runs off a Kuldeep over, did Australia look threatening. But for the rest of game, they looked like fishes out of water.
Earlier Pandya and Dhoni scripted a brilliant recovery act after India’s top-half was blown away – courtesy some controlled swing bowling from Nathan Coulter-Nile (3/44) and Marcus Stoinis (2/54). Dhoni also added 72 runs for the seventh wicket with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (32 n o, 30b, 5×4) in only 8.5 overs.
The turning point of the innings was the 37th over bowled by Zampa when Pandya launched into him hitting him for a four and three huge sixes.
Brief Scores: India 281/7 (Hardik Pandya 83, MS Dhoni 79, Kedar Jadhav 40; Nathan Coulter-Nile 3/44, Marcus Stoinis 2/54) bt Australia 137/9 in 21 overs (Glenn Maxwell 39, James Faulkner 32 n o; Yuzvendra Chahal 3/30, Hardik Pandya 2/28, Kuldeep Yadav 2/33) by 26 runs (D/L method).
New MSD feat
Chennai: Mahendra Singh Dhoni completed the coveted landmark of 100 international half-centuries across all three formats with an innings of 79 against Australia in the first ODI, here Sunday. The 36-year-old Dhoni is now the 13th cricketer to complete a ton of 50s. Among Indians, he is fourth after Sachin Tendulkar (164), Rahul Dravid (146) and Sourav Ganguly (107) to achieve the feat. Dhoni has 66 ODI half centuries, 33 in Tests and one in T20s.
Agencies
