Aus vs Ind 1st ODI: Aussies win by 34 runs as Rohit's ton goes in vain

Sydney: Rohit Sharma’s (133) century went in vain as Australia beat India by 34 runs in the first ODI to take 1-0 lead in the three-match series here on Saturday.

Chasing a total of 289, the Men in Blue got off to a horrific start, with Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and Ambati Rayudu departing within the first four overs.

However, a 137-run stand between Rohit and MS Dhoni (51) ensured that the visitors were back on track.

Even Dinesh Karthik and Ravindra Jadeja were no match for the fierce Aussie bowlers, and the hosts’ big moment came when Marcus Stoinis finally saw off the centurion Rohit.

Jhye Richardson ended up as the top wicket-taker after his figures read 4/26 from 10 overs.

India 247-8 after 49 overs

CAUGHT! India are falling apart and Kuldeep Yadav is the latest man to go. Siddle bowls it slow outside off, the southpaw pulls it straight towards Usman Khawaja at deep backward square.

India 221-7 after 45.4 overs

WICKET! Is this the final nail in the coffin? Marcus Stoinis treats Rohit Sharma with a short ball and the Indian opener holes it out to Glenn Maxwell in the deep. The crowd gives him a standing ovation as he departs.

India 214-6 after 45 overs:

CAUGHT! Banged in short by Richardson, Jadeja frees up his arms but can only manage to find Shaun Marsh at deep point.

India 180-5 after 40 overs:

WICKET! Jhye Richardson sees off Dinesh Karthik. The Tamil Nadu batsman gets a big inside edge after going too early into his shot.

India 144-4 after 33 overs:

LBW! The umpire raises his finger as Jason Behrendorff gets the big fish. Aimed full at the stumps, MS Dhoni is struck right in front after missing the flick. No reviews left for India and he departs.

India 140-3 after 32 overs:

FIFTY! After bringing up 10,000 ODI runs for India, MS Dhoni has cashed in with a gritty half-century. Can he manage to steer India across the finish line?

India 95-3 after 23.5 overs

FIFTY! Rohit Sharma gets to his 38th ODI fifty. Will this be a match-winning effort?

India 4-3 after 3.5 overs

WICKET! Richardson does the damage again, removes Ambati Rayudu .

India 4-2 after 3.3 overs

WICKET! Jhye Richardson strikes as he sees off big man Virat Kohli for three runs, who is caught by Marcus Stoinis at square leg.

India 1-1 after 1 over

WICKET! An early blow for the visitors as Shikhar Dhawan is struck lbw by Jason Behrendorff. Dhawan is back to the pavilion without scoring any run.

Australia innings

Fifties from Usman Khawaja (59), Shaun Marsh (54) and Peter Handscomb (73) guided Australia to 288-5 in the first ODI against India here on Saturday.

The hosts lost captain Aaron Finch early with Bhuvneshwar Kumar striking early.

Alex Carey (24) too played a cameo role before he was dismissed by Kuldeep Yadav.

Despite a strong fight by the Indian bowlers,  the Aussies added 59 more runs in the last five overs, thanks to an unbeaten 47 by Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell, who remained unbeaten on 11 runs.  

Kuldeep finished with a spell of 2/54 whereas Ravindra Jadeja had figures of 1/48.  

Bhuvneshwar, too, got a couple of wickets as he signed off with a spell of 2/66 from 10 overs.

Australia 254-5 after 47.2 overs

WICKET! Dhawan completes the catch at sweeper cover as Bhuvneshwar removes Handscomb for 73 runs.

Australia 186-4 after 37.3 overs

WICKET! Kuldeep gets his second as Shami completes the catch at long on to see off Shaun Marsh for 54.

Australia 133-3 after 28.2 overs

WICKET! Khawaja departs for 59 as he is struck leg before wicket with Ravindra Jadeja celebrating the breakthrough wicket.

Australia 117-2 after 25.2 overs

FIFTY! Usman Khawaja brings up his fifth ODI fifty!

Australia 41-2 after 9.5 overs

WICKET! Alex Carey's cameo comes to an end as Rohit Sharma takes a comfortable catch at first slip. Carey dismissed for 24 runs.

Australia 8-1 after 2.2 overs

BOWLED'EM! Bhuvneshwar Kumar gets his 100th ODI wicket in style as captain Aaron Finch is seen off for just six runs.

Toss update

Australia won the toss and elected to bat.

Preview

Hosts Australia will look to recover from their Test series loss to India when Aaron Finch’s men take on Virat Kohli and co in the first of the three ODIs at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) here on Saturday.

While the hosts will continue to miss the services of Steve Smith and David Warner due to their ball-tampering ban, the Men in Blue have been given a huge blow after Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul were suspended for the series after making an inappropriate comment during ‘Koffee with Karan’, a chat show.

The duo were on Friday suspended pending an inquiry into their outrage-evoking comments on women during a TV show, and will be sent back home from Australia.

The cricketers, who have been in the eye of a storm following their sexist remarks on the show hosted by filmmaker Karan Johar, will be sent back on the first available flight.

 They were omitted from the line-up for the opening match in Sydney but now it seems they won't be in the mix even for the limited-overs tour of New Zealand, beginning January 23.

Rahul was unlikely to get a go owing to both his poor form and the presence of a well-settled opening pair in Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan.

Meanwhile, Pandya's absence could mean that India might have to rejig their bowling attack. Jasprit Bumrah has already been rested for this series, as well as the tour of New Zealand, and this allows the think-tank to conduct one final experimentation with their bowling attack.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a shoe-in, and thereafter it depends if Kohli wants to go in with a three-man pace attack to compensate for Pandya's loss.

Squads:

India: Virat Kohli(Captain), Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu,  Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, j, K Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.

Australia: Aaron Finch(Captain), Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, , Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell,  Billy Stanlake, Jason Behrendorff, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner.

Where to watch the matches live?

Live telecast: The matches can be seen live on Sony Six (English commentary) and Sony Ten 3 (Hindi commentary).

Live streaming: It can also be streamed live on Sony LIV, the digital platform on the internet.