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India defeated Australia by 5 wickets in the first ODI of the three-match ODI series played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday.
Wicket-keeper batter KL Rahul and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja added an unbeaten 108-run partnership off 123 balls for the sixth wicket to help India chase down the target of 189 with 10.1 overs to spare in a low-scoring encounter.
With this win, India has taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series. The second ODI will be played on Sunday, March 19 in Visakhapatnam.
For India, Rahul played a brilliant knock of 75 not out off 91 balls on a tough pitch, hitting seven fours and a six along with Jadeja who remained unbeaten on 45 off 69 balls with five fours to help India chase down the target with ease.
With the ball, pacers Mohammed Shami (3/17) and Mohammed Siraj (3/29) took three wickets each as Australia were bowled out at 188 in 35.4 overs.
Rahul initially started his innings cautiously and brought up his fifty off 73 balls with five boundaries before changing gears to hit two more fours and a six to ensure he remains unbeaten and take India home from a tricky situation.
It was an unusual pitch at the Wankhede with an even covering of grass and offered help to the seam bowlers both in the air and off the pitch. Batting wasn’t easy on this track and the batters had to play tight and grind it out to score runs.
Australian bowlers had restricted India to 83/5 in 19.2 overs after Hardik Pandya was dismissed for 25 off 31. However, Rahul and Jadeja came together to rescue India from a difficult position and took them to a memorable victory with an unbeaten partnership.
The Wankhede wicket offered lateral movement to the seam bowlers and the bowlers dominated in the whole game except an unbelievable 81 off 65 balls with ten fours and five sixes by Australia’s makeshift opener Mitchell Marsh who batted at a brilliant strike rate of 124.61 on a pitch where run-scoring seemed not so easy. For India, all five batters who were dismissed struggled to get going apart from well-controlled knocks by Rahul and Jadeja.
A hard-fought victory for India as they take a 1-0 series lead 👊#INDvAUS | 📝: https://t.co/V30MqMC4km pic.twitter.com/o0EwmiAAaV
— ICC (@ICC) March 17, 2023
India were off to a worst start possible as they lost their first three wickets — Ishan Kishan (3), Virat Kohli (4) and Suryakumar Yadav (0) — with just 16 runs on the board. All three batters were trapped lbw in front of the stumps as the ball moved in the air.
Opener Shubman Gill was riding his luck and ended his 31-ball 20 with a loose shot outside the off stump while driving on the up off Starc to get caught at backward point.
Then, two crucial middle-order partnerships helped India get back on track. Both the partnerships involved Rahul, who has been under a lot of pressure recently due to his poor form. Former cricketers, commentators and fans, all have been speaking about Rahul’s form on the social media.
30-year-old Rahul lost not only his vice-captaincy but also his place as an opener in the Test playing XI after failing to score runs in the first two Tests against Australia.
However, Rahul needed just one inning to get the monkey off his back and his knock in the first ODI was exactly that.
Rahul was the stand-out player of the day for India and played an impressive knock of high quality. He started his innings cautiously initially by getting used to the pitch where the ball was swinging.
Starc led Australia’s bowling attack and posed threat to India early in the innings.
Rahul and Pandya came together to stitch a 44-run partnership off 55 deliveries for the fifth wicket. Rahul played the supporting role while Pandya (25 off 31 balls) was the aggressor by playing his shots, hitting the first six of the Indian innings off all-rounder Cameron Green.
Pandya scored four to Green, Starc and Sean Abbott before getting dismissed off Stoinis while mistiming a hook shot off a bouncer that surprised him.
Rahul brought up his half-century off 71 balls. After completing his fifty, he opened up by smashing leg-spinner Adam Zampa for a four and a six in the 36th over.
He was lucky as a couple of outside edges did not carry to the fielder. He was also beaten on a few occasions but continued to build his innings by not losing his focus.
Rahul was solid in his defence and was happy to leave odd balls outside the off stump. He accumulated most of his runs through singles and waited for the loose balls to score boundaries.
Earlier, after winning the toss and electing to field first, India were off to a great start as Shami took three wickets in a superb spell of seam bowling which also included two maidens, while Siraj struck two wickets from the other end as India came back brilliantly after Marsh’s heroics.
Jadeja, who was playing his first ODI after an injury break, picked 2/46 as India ran through Australia’s middle order after dismissing the dangerous-looking Marsh.
Marsh added two fifty-run partnerships at the top for Australia. He first had a 72-run stand with skipper Steven Smith for the second wicket followed by a 52-run partnership with Marnus Labuschagne.
Marsh provided a brilliant start to Australia’s innings and got 70 of his 81 runs in boundaries. With the pitch offering assistance to the bowlers, it seemed that he was batting on a different pitch altogether as no other batter could score runs at a quick rate for the visitors except for Marsh.
Marsh was sent in as an opener replacing regular opener David Warner, who was left out after he failed to fully recover from the elbow injury that he suffered during the recently concluded Test series.
Marsh hit Siraj for three boundaries off five deliveries in the fourth over — the first one over covers, then a backfoot punch between cover and point and the last one over mid-off on a marginally fuller delivery.
He was beaten on more than a couple of occasions but struck two more fours to Siraj in the eighth over before lofting medium pacer Shardul Thakur over his head for his first six. There was no stopping Marsh as he then smashed Hardik for two sixes in the 15th over.
In the 17th over, Marsh then took on left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav and hammered him two boundaries to bring up his half-century off 51 balls. However, after his dismissal, Australia lost their last five wickets for just 19 runs as they fell from 169/5 in 27.5 overs to getting all out on 188 in 35.4 overs.
Ravindra Jadeja was awarded the Player of the Match for his brilliant all-round performance, scoring an unbeaten 45 off 69 balls and claiming figures of 2/46.
Brief Scores: India 191/5 in 39.5 overs (KL Rahul 75*, Ravindra Jadeja 45*; Mitchell Starc 3/49, Marcus Stoinis 2/27) beat Australia 188/10 in 35.4 overs (Mitchell Marsh 81, Josh Inglis 26; Mohammed Shami 3/17, Mohd Siraj 3/29) by 5 wickets.
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