There was pin-drop silence on the Wankhede Stadium on Friday night after Hardik Pandya was hurried right into a hook off a Marcus Stoinis bouncer and ended up providing a simple catch to Cameron Green at deep backward sq. leg.
As a dejected Pandya – India’s stand-in captain for the primary ODI towards Australia – walked again to the pavilion, India was reeling at 83 for five, in pursuit of Australia’s 188.
On a floor that aided the seamers, Mitchell Starc and Stoinis struck early and India’s destiny was hanging in steadiness with the goal nonetheless greater than 100 runs away.
However, Ok.L. Rahul (75 n.o., 91b, 7×4, 1×6) and Ravindra Jadeja (45 n.o., 69b, 5×4) took issues of their stride and cast an unbeaten 108-run partnership for the sixth wicket to information India to a five-wicket win.
Despite the strain mounting, the duo took time to settle in and finally accelerated to make sure that there have been no additional slip-ups. Making probably the most of a reprieve – dropped by Aussie captain Steve Smith at 41 – Rahul performed to his power and was in no temper to hurry issues.
Rahul and Jadeja put the Australian bowlers’ persistence to check. They collected singles and hit occasional boundaries. This method helped because the touring aspect ran out of steam and allowed India to go one-nil up within the three-match sequence.
Shaky begin
Coming into the sport after getting dropped from the Indian workforce for the final two Tests towards Australia in Indore and Ahmedabad, Rahul stamped his class within the shorter format as he dealt with the strain and didn’t enable the Aussies to dig in after having fun with preliminary success.
With three top-order batters – Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav – again within the pavilion inside the primary ten overs, with simply 39 runs on the board, it was a problem for Rahul to step in and ship. Shortly after he walked in, Shubman Gill – after surviving two dropped catches and a LBW assessment – was caught at backward level by Marnus Labuschagne off Starc.
Things would have gone haywire had Rahul and Pandya not rebuilt with a 44-run partnership. While the previous held fort, the stand-in captain performed briskly, crafting his innings with three fours and a six earlier than falling to Stoinis.
India was nonetheless far-off from dwelling and it wanted Rahul and Jadeja to take issues ahead. Rahul hit a flurry of boundaries quickly after reaching his half-century, whereas Jadeja backed him by rotating the strike.
Bowlers’ day trip
As the temperature soared within the afternoon, India’s resolution to bowl first paid dividends as Mohammed Siraj (3 for 29) struck within the second over of the sport, dismissing Travis Head.
Head, who narrowly missed out on a century within the last Test in Ahmedabad earlier this week, stepped down and tried to drive away from his physique, however ended up getting an inside edge onto the stumps.
But Mitchell Marsh hit again with three boundaries off Siraj. He constructed a 72-run partnership with Smith for the second wicket.
In his first worldwide task since November final 12 months, Marsh made the a lot of the Powerplay and hit boundaries at common intervals, earlier than slamming Shardul Thakur for an enormous six over his head to take the workforce to 59 for 1 in ten overs. Though Pandya broke the momentum, tempting Smith to chase a large supply and edge one behind, Marsh didn’t lose focus.
He introduced up his 50 off 51 deliveries, hitting consecutive fours off Kuldeep Yadav, and bettered it with 31 runs off his subsequent 13 deliveries. However, Jadeja eliminated him with flighted supply. Marsh mistimed it and ended up providing a catch at brief third man.
And, that breakthrough proved essential for India.
Moments later, Jadeja took a stunner to indicate do away with Labuschagne, earlier than Mohammed Shami (3 for 17) returned for his second spell to interrupt the opponent’s again. Playing rather than Alex Carey, Josh Inglis chopped one onto his stumps off Shami earlier than Cameron Green was cleaned up.
Reeling at 174 for six, Australia nonetheless hoped for a comeback with Stoinis nonetheless on the crease. But he was caught at slip by Gill, earlier than Jadeja despatched Glenn Maxwell packing. The visiting workforce misplaced its final 4 wickets for simply 14 runs.
Source web site: sportstar.thehindu.com
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