Australia thrashed India by 66 runs in the firsജt One Day International (ODI) of the three-match series at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Friday.
Chasing a humungous target of 375, India started pretty well as the opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Mayank Agarwal added 53 runs in first five overs. However, soon the hosts came back as Josh Hazlewood drew the first blood in form of Mayank (22).
Hazlewood did not just stop there; in the 10th over he got the big wicket of Virat Kohli (21). The India skipper did play some imp꧙ressive shots but failed to hang on in the middle for a longer time.
The home team gave two more blows to the tourists by removing Shreyas Iyer (2) and KL Rahul (12). India were 101/4 when Adam Zampa dismissed Rahul, and that’s when Dhawan along with Hardik Pandya decided to steady the ship.
The duo stitched together a partnership of 128 runs for the fifth wicket. Both were looking set to cruise through before Dhawan (74) in an attempt to clear the mid-off region against Zampa ended up giving a simple catch to Mitchell Starc.
Zampa provided yet another br✅eakthrough, and this time it was none other than Hardik who was reaching close to his hundred. Hardik scored a brilliant 90 off 76 deliveries with the help 7 fours and 4 towering sixes.
In the end, India only managed to reach 308꧋/8, losing the contest by 66 runs.
Powerful batting display propel Australia to 374/6
Earlier, skipper Aaron Finch’s 17th ODI hundred, followed by Australia’s third fastest century in the 50-over format from Steve Smith took hosts to a massive score of 374/6.
The Aussies started their innings on a high note as Finch along with David Warner put together the opening stand of 156 runs before Mohammed Sham🔴i dismissed Warner who scored 6✅9 runs of 76 balls.
Finch continued the boundary-scoring process and formed a 108-run partnership with Smith for the second wicket. The Australian ski🍸pper smashed 114 off 124 balls before departing in the 40th over.
Glenn Maxwell also chipped in with a crucial cameo of 45 runs from just 19 deliveries. Soon, Smith went on t🙈o 🎃score his 9th ODI hundred before Shami cleaned him up in the final over of Australian innings.
Here is how Twitter reacted:
Pandya came in to bat when all seemed lost….but he managed to keep the hopes alive while he was there. With some high-quality skills. Major positive from an otherwise insipid game for India.
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash)
Australiaꦜns who didn’t have a great have started shining strait away in the first game of their big summer ,Maxwell, finch & Smith 👌🏻🏏
— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath)
India in last 6 International matches:
Lost
Lost
Lost
Lost
Lost
Lost— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns)
𒉰Top innings from Pandya. There is much more to him than just a six-hitter.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha)
What a knock . When you wear the national jersey the emotion🍸s are different. Hoping for something special from and the team wit📖h the bat!
— Pragyan Ojha (@pragyanojha)
India’s over rate is appalling … !!! Body language defensive … fielding is my standard (shocking) … Bowling ordinary !!! Aussies on the other hand have been outstanding … Long tour for India me thinks … !!!
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan)
Hardik Pandya will play many more and bet🎶ter innings like this. Today, he showed that he is not just the IPL rescue act specialist.
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh)
Fine 💯 from captain Finch, setting up the tone of the series perfeꦕctly. A very good example for his team to follow from here on.
— Reemma malhotrra (@ReemaMalhotra8)
Steve Smith 💯 off 63 balls 😬
Don’t believe I’ve seen him hit them better and longer to more innovative angles ever in ODI 👌
Ominous for the summer 🏏— Damien Fleming (@bowlologist)
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14)
Steve Smith today:
9 (10)
19 (20)
30 (30)
57 (40)
75 (50)
95 (60)A 62-ball hundred for him.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket)
Zampa repaying for an IPL contract.🤣🤣🤣
We all drop them.— Brad Hogg (@Brad_Hogg)
Balle Pandya👏👏
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99)
