Hardik Pandya’s 90 to 76 balls and Shikhar Dhawan’s 74 to 86 were not enough to help India chase down a 375 mammoth as Australia beat them by 66 runs in the first one-day International at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG ) on Friday to take a 1-0 lead in the three-game series and score 10 points in the ICC ODI Super League. Aaron Finch (114) and Steve Smith (105) hit centuries – Smith is the third fastest of an Australian in ODIs – and were helped by Glenn Maxwell’s 45 against 19 and David Warner’s 69 against 76 on flat ground in SCG where all the Indian bowlers struggled to contain the races. India was limited to 308 for 8 out of 50 overs.
Coming at bat when India was in trouble at 101-for-4 at 14, Pandya joined a crucial 128-run partnership with Dhawan to keep India in hot water.
Pandya went up his fifty with just 31 balls in the 24th of the Indian inning.
Pandya took a special liking to spinners, Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell, who were hit by six, mainly in the ‘V’ between long and long, as India continued on its way to its most successful chase in ODIs.
Chasing Australia’s 374-by-6, India got off to a good start with starters Dhawan and Mayank Agarwal (22-of-18) adding 53 within the first six overs before Josh Hazlewood had Agarwal fired from a short ball.
An uncharacteristic Virat Kohli played many shots in his short run of 21-on-21 balls, which were two fours and six, before Hazlewood had him hit another short ball at Finch in the middle of the short wicket.
Kohli was given a lifeline when Zampa brought him down with his thin leg, but the Indian captain was unable to make the most of it.
When Shreyas Iyer, caught by goalie Alex Carey as Iyer attempted to duck under a Hazlewood bumper with his bat pointed up, and KL Rahul, caught by Smith in front of Zampa, were fired within the first 15 overs, India faced a huge task. .
However, Pandya and Dhawan attacked and batted through the middle over to give India a solid base to pitch in the death overs.
But Zampa had other plans, as after firing Dhawan at 35, caught by Mitchell Starc at depth, he outplayed Pandya, who also poked Starc at long run, ending his innings studded with seven fours. and four sixes in the 39th.
Zampa returned 4 of 54 of 10, while Hazlewood had 3 of 55 of his 10.
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Earlier, Finch won the toss and opted to hit. He and his starting partner Warner added 156 runs for the first wicket, setting things up for the middle order.
For India, Shami was the bowler’s choice with figures of 3 for 59 of their full quota.
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