Pandya-Dhawan heroics failed to steal the chase as Australia outclassed India by 66 runs in the first ODI. Smith and Finch scored fine centuries to put 374 on board, and Zampa and Hazlewood’s quality bowling spells restricted India on 308 to take 1-0 lead in three matches ODI series. The second ODI of the series will be played on Sunday on the same ground.
Toss: Australia opted to bat first
Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Detailed Report
First innings: Finch and Warner made a promising start for Aussies. For the successive 4th match, India failed to get any wicket in the powerplay. The duo added 156 runs for the opening wicket before Warner departed after a fine 69. Finch continued his class batting and completed his 16th ODI century. However, Smith looked quicker than his natural batting style. He added 108 runs with his skipper, and Bumrah broke this stand with Finch’s wicket.
Steve Smith smashed the century off just 62 balls, his quickest in ODIs and third fastest for Australia. On a batting paradise, Maxwell also fired against Indian bowling and scored 45 off just 19 balls. Maxwell-Smith added 57 runs off just 26 balls to take Australia 374, the third-highest total against India ever by any team in ODIs. Shami bowled the best spell for India, picking three wickets for 59.
2nd innings: India off to a fiery start as Aussies conceded 32 in the first two overs. Mayank Agarwal departed after a 53-runs stand with Dhawan. In middle-overs, India required some sensible approach, but Hazlewood trapped Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli with his pace to read India’s score 80/3 in 10-overs. Adam Zampa scalped KL Rahul for 12 to send India into deep trouble. Run-rate was the only thing that favoured India in this game, and the duo Dhawan-Pandya showed steadiness in middle-overs to kept ‘Men in Blue’ high.
Pandya scored a fine half-century to complete his 1000 runs in ODI cricket, the 4th quickest in ODI cricket. On the other hand, Dhawan also completed his 29th half-century to guide India’s chase towards victory. Zampa broke a 128-runs partnership with the wicket of Dhawan, and Australia bowled some tight overs in the middle to put pressure on India’s tail. Pandya departed after 76-balls 90, and later, India fell short of 66 runs to lose this game. Zampa bagged 4 wickets, and Hazlewood scalped three wickets to help the Aussies to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Star-performer of the match
Steve Smith is our star performer of the match. Usually, we see Smith as a sheet-anchor in middle-overs, but in Sydney, he showed an acceleration after a good opening start. Smith scored a century off just 52 balls to create a record. It was the third-fastest ODI century by an Australian player. Before going out on 105, he smashed 11 fours and 4 sixes.
5 players who made an impact in this game:
Steve Smith 105 (66)
Aaron Finch 114 (124)
Hardik Pandya 90 (76)
Shikhar Dhawan 74 (86)
Adam Zampa 10-0-54-4
