India edged past Australia in the first ODI of the three-match series by five wickets on Friday, September 22 at Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali. After winning the toss, captain KL Rahul invited Australia to bat first and the decision was vindicated by his bowlers who bundled them out for a below-par score of 276. Mohammed Shami was the pick of the bowlers for Men in Blue with his figures of 5/51 in ten overs.
In reply, India got off to a great start with openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shubman Gill adding 142 runs for the first wicket. After their dismissals, KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav took the team home with their 80-run stand. As a result, India chased down the target in 48.4 overs and won the match by five wickets.
Here are the Talking Points of the Match:
1. Mohammed Shami’s five-fer
The right-arm seamer was included in the Playing XI ahead of the in-form Mohammed Siraj. Shami accepted the opportunity with both hands and got India off to a great start by dismissing Mitchell Marsh in the first over itself. He further picked up the wickets of Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Short and Sean Abbott to complete his second five-wicket haul.
2. Ruturaj Gaikwad’s maiden ODI fifty
With captain Rohit Sharma rested, Gaikwad got a golden opportunity to open the innings for his side. The 26-year-old didn’t let it go to waste as he registered his maiden ODI fifty scoring 71 off 77 balls with the help of ten fours. Gaikwad got involved in a massive opening stand of 142 off 130 balls with Shubman Gill (74 off 63).
3. Suryakumar Yadav’s much-needed fifty
The swashbuckling batter was under tremendous pressure to score coming into the ODI series with people questioning his place in the ODI team. However, SKY took the challenge head-on and scored a brilliant fifty (50 off 49) and stitched a crucial 80-run stand with captain KL Rahul. The knock will do his confidence a word of good heading into the World Cup.
Winning Captain, KL Rahul, India said:
(On captaincy) Not the first time, always happens with me. I’m used to it, I love it. I think the intensity in the afternoon was great, after Colombo this felt like heaven in the start but it was really hot and humid. It gets tough and physically challenging, but we’ve all worked on our fitness and that’s showing on the field. We only played five bowlers, so they had to bowl 10 overs. After Shubman got out, it was a bit tricky with the set batter out. But managed to build a good partnership with Surya, need to put myself in such challenging situations. (On partnership with Surya) We kept talking about hitting good cricket shots, rotating the strike and this is something all our batters are working on. We didn’t want to get bogged down, we were always on par so we wanted to take it deep.
Losing Captain, Pat Cummins, Australia said:
Personally, happy to be back. Good to get my first game in India. A few guys batted well, few guys bowled well but overall not good enough. (On injuries) They’d probably not be ready for the second game, maybe the third game. Maxi has just arrived in India. Smith’s first hit as well, and Davey was brilliant. Good to see them out there together. We’ve got one eye on the big tournament, but you want to set the standards early and build a good rhythm.
Player of the Match, Mohammed Shami said:
(On bowling longer spells in the heat) It depends on the captain and the game situation, but despite the heat you feel like bowling 4-5 overs with the new ball. I enjoyed the wicket of Marsh, that’s a different feeling when you get the outside edge, when you control your swing nicely. It was important to hit the right lengths on this wicket, either at full pace or go slow, but bowling the right lengths were key. (On bowling with the other pacers) We’ve played together for a long time, so we know what needs to be done. Always enjoy when we bowl well in tandem like this.