Aus v Ind 1st ODI review: Australia strolls past the visitors at the WACA

MS Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat first against Australia in the opening ODI of the five-match series at the WACA Ground in Perth. This turned out to be a wrong decision on a flat pitch that enabled the home side to cruise past India’s total of 309/3.  Joel Paris and Scott Boland made their international debuts while James Faulkner returned to the Australian ODI team for the first time since he served a suspension for a drink driving offence while playing Twenty20 matches for Lancashire during last year’s northern summer. Barinder Sran made his debut for the visitors, who also included Bhuvneshwar Kumar in their bowling attack alongside R Ashwin, Umesh Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja.

The conditions were overcast when the toss took place however the sun was out in its full glory when the Indian openers walked out to the middle. Shikhar Dhawan’s pushing and prodding lasted for 22 deliveries however produced only 9 runs including one classic cover drive for his only boundary. Though, overall it was a pretty scratchy stay for the southpaw which was ended by Josh Hazlewood’s short ball that produced a top edge. Rohit Sharma looked in fine rhythm and continued his good ODI form.

Virat Kohli has a brilliant record against Aussies in their backyard in the longest format of the game however he has failed to make an impression in ODIs. He looked determined to get the record straight and started with 2 fours of Paris in the 10th over. The Australian bowlers were guilty of bowling too many over-pitched ball which were made full use of by the 2 Indian batsmen. Boland started well conceding just 12 off his first spell of 4 overs but was surprisingly taken out of the attack by Steve Smith.

Sharma brought up his fifty in the 20th over and the team total was 93/1 at the end of it. He hammered Glenn Maxwell for a six and a four in the 27th over and continued his merry way. Kohli pulled Boland for a maximum to bring up his first fifty against the Aussies in Australia. Rohit and Kohli pushed on without offering chances, content to score at around five per over until the start of the final bracket of 10. Rohit’s hundred duly arrived, and Kohli’s only eluded him when he was well caught by Aaron Finch, running around the fence from long-on. This ended a brilliant stand of 207.

MS Dhoni promoted himself for a brief, and briefly explosive, cameo of 18 while Boland’s desire to bowl at the death was tested by Rohit’s ability to clear the boundary – seven times in all. Combined figures of 0 for 127 from 18 overs made it a harsh initiation for Boland and Paris. India heaped together 61 from the final five overs of the innings, as Rohit cleared the fence three times. Rohit’s unbeaten 171 added to his ever growing list of huge limited-overs innings and confirmed his mastery of the ODI format. Josh Hazlewood was the most impressive and economical bowler for the hosts with 1/41 from his 10 overs.

Sran’s maiden international wicket in his second over was that of Aaron Finch. The left-arm pacer landed the ball full and outside off and the bat twisted Finch’s hand, as he attempted a drive, resulting in a return catch brilliantly held by the bowler. The debutant made it 21/2 when he got the wicket of the dangerous David Warner. The left-hander looked to loft the ball over mid-off get but didn’t get hold of it and Kohli completed a simple overhead catch. The next ball turned out to be a huge moment in the game.

George Bailey was given not out when replays confirmed that he had gloved the ball to Dhoni behind the wickets. The right-hander tried to leg-glance a short ball, however, was cramped for room as the ball took the glove on its way behind. Umpire Kettleborough didn’t answer the appeal in the affirmative, however, the hot spot confirmed the mark. From this moment onwards, Bailey and Steve Smith struck a match-winnings partnership of 242 that put the game firmly in Australia’s grasp.

The feature of the partnership was the assault on the Indian spinners. The 9 overs from the 17th one witnessed 76 runs as the two batsmen played positive cricket. Ashwin and Jadeja bowled poor lines with no assistance from a batting paradise. Rohit Sharma was surprisingly given an over by Dhoni ahead of the spin-duo but that experiment leaked 11 runs. This was after Yadav had bowled three tight overs. Mixing caution with aggression the two didn’t allow any of the bowlers to settle and kept the scoreboard moving. Without taking any risks, the two were striking at around a run a ball.

Bailey brought up his fifty in the 21st over while Smith reached his landmark in the 25th. The next over from Ashwin saw 2 sixes and one four that signaled the Australian domination. Both batsmen reached their hundreds by the start of the last 10 overs much to the frustration of the visitors who were made to toil hard on a dead pitch. Ashwin’s late strikes that of Bailey and Maxwell just delayed the inevitable and took the match to the final over. Smith became Sran’s third wicket as the Aussie skipper fell one short of 150. The home team finished the match with 4 balls to spare and took a well-deserved lead in the series.

India will need to think long and hard about the team composition as playing two spinners on this pitch seemed a wrong move and it ultimately proved that way. Ishant Sharma with his back of the length line would have been a better option since the Indian seamers did reasonably well. Kumar went under 5 runs per over while Yadav conceded runs at 5.40. Ashwin and Jadeja though gave 129 runs from 18 overs that ultimately proved the difference.

Brief Scores:

India – 309/3 (RG Sharma 171*, V Kohli 91; J Faulkner 2/60)

Australia – 310/5 (S Smith 149, G Bailey 112; B Sran 3/56)

Man of the match– Steve Smith (Aus)