India vs Australia, 1st ODI, 2022-23, Top Performances: KL Rahul's 75*, Mitchell Marsh' 81 and Mohammed Shami & Mohammed Siraj's combined 6-46 are top performances. India beat Australia in first ODI and lead three match series by 1-0.
Brief Scores: India 191/5 (Rahul 75*, Jadeja 45*, Starc 3/49) beat Australia 188 (Marsh 81, Shami 3/17, Siraj 3/29) by 5 wickets
Player of the Match: Ravindra Jadeja (45* runs & 2/46)
After retaining the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2022-23 for the fourth consecutive time and qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23 final, hosts India locked horns with Australia for the first of the three-match One Day International (ODI) series at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday.
In 143 ODIs played between them before this game, the five-time World Champions enjoyed 80-53 record towards their court prior to the start of this game. In 64 ODIs played in India before the start of this game, Australia have won 30 games while the home side have 29 victories.
India made incredible comeback in both batting and bowling department
India made great recovery in both batting and bowling departments. With the ball in hand, when Mitchell Marsh was smashing the ball all around the park, it seemed like the visitors would reach over 300 but India pulled them back as from 129/2, the tourists were packed up for 188 all-out. With the bat too, India lost four quick wickets, before KL Rahul rescued them with valuable partnerships with both Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja.
In the bowling department, the way Kuldeep Yadav, who returned 1/48 and Mohammed Siraj, who had 3/29, have been excellent in recent ODIs; it seems like they have cemented their spots in the ODI set-up. The former was out of the team for a few series but of late, both have been really consistent with the ball.
Read More: Australia lead India 30-29 in ODI matches in India; A look at top games between the 2 sides in India
India opt to field first; Ravindra Jadeja made ODI return
India’s stand-in captain, Hardik Pandya on winning the toss decided to field first on a pitch that had some nice even covering of grass and was expected to remain same for the whole period of the game.
For Australia, Steven Smith was leading the side in the absence of Pat Cummins while Josh Inglis was added in the team in place of an ill Alex Carey; David Warner is still recovering his injury. For India, with the unavailability of Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan was slotted in the opening sot while Ravindra Jadeja who was making a comeback in the team was playing his 300th international game.
Put into bat first, Australia lost opener Travis Head on 5 early in the second over before Mitchell Marsh and Steve Smith rescued them with a 72-run partnership for the second wicket where Marsh was just cracking some monster boundaries. Even after Smith’s return, in the 52-run partnership for the third wicket with Marnus Labuschagne, Marsh was the biggest contributor but since his wicket, Australia fell like a pack of cards. India pacers used the swing late in the game while the spinners bowled with excellent planning as the visitors from 129/2, were bundled out for 188 in 35.4 overs.
Chasing a low score, India didn’t start well losing Ishan Kishan in the second over before Mitchell Starc with couple of quick breakthroughs put the home side on the backfoot at 16/3 and later to 39/4. Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul managed to calm the situation with a 44-run stand before the latter notched up an unbeaten 108-run stand with Ravindra Jadeja for the sixth wicket to carry India to a five-wicket victory and went 1-0 up in the series.
Let’s scan the top three performances from the first ODI between India and Australia in Mumbai.
Mitchell Marsh scarred India with his 65-ball 81 runs
With the unavailability of regular opener David Warner, Mitchell Marsh was asked to open for Australia in the first ODI game. After taking a good look at the condition of the pitch, Marsh earned his first boundary against Mohammed Shami over point before punching him over backward point for the same result.
On the very next ball, Marsh drove him towards the long-off fence for a boundary before welcoming Hardik Pandya with another four in the square leg region. The right-handed batter then smashed Siraj between covers and mid-off before cleaning the straight boundary for a huge maximum.
With more power, he was demolishing the India bowlers in all parts of the ground as he thumped Pandya for another six in the shorter square region. With a boundary through covers against Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Marsh making his return from an ankle injury celebrated his 14th ODI fifty in just 51 balls. He then cut Kuldeep Yadav through covers to find the fence before clearing the long-on boundary with a minimal effort to score another six. He now has 21 runs in 11 balls in ODIs against Kuldeep without getting dismissed.
Finally, Jadeja with a spinning delivery sent back Marsh who in an attempt to smack another big shot found the short third man fielder on 81 in 65 runs with the help of 10 boundaries and5 sixes. Marsh now has 1895 ODI runs in 70 games. After his dismissal, no other batter had any answer to the India attack.
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Shami-Siraj brought India back in the game with combined figures of 6/46
Deciding to bowl first on a high-scoring ground, the onus was on the new ball bowlers of India and Mohammed Siraj, the number one ICC ODI bowler delivered straightaway.
After being smashed for a boundary early in his first over, he finished it with a bang, by taking the wicket of opener Travis Head on 5 who in trying to drive the full ball used his feet only to see it being dragged onto the stumps. Australia found themselves in a pretty good position thanks to Mitchell Marsh but since his wicket, India didn’t let anyone to settle down.
Mohammed Shami coming back in his second spell, sent back Josh Inglis on 26 who in trying to cut the short ball got an inside edge onto the stumps. In his very next over, Shami was a treat to watch. He set up Cameron Green with couple of out-swinging deliveries before disturbing his furniture on 12. Again, in his next over, Shami pocketed the wicket of Marcus Stoinis on 5 who edged the ball in the hands of Shubman Gill stationed at the lone slip.
Siraj, after being called back into the attack, almost in the same manner caged Sean Abbott on a seven-ball duck before finishing the innings finding the outside edge of Adam Zampa on 0 as Australia were packed up for 188.
Shami who finished with 3/17 in six overs now has 162 ODI wickets in 88 games, while Siraj, finishing with 3/29 in 5.4 overs, has 41 ODI wickets in 22 games.
Read More: Siraj & Kuldeep among top 5 India wicket-takers since 2022; Is the duo a certainty for CWC 2023?
Rahul-Jadeja move India over the line with unbeaten 108-run stand
Chasing a low score, India started poorly with 16/3, followed by slumping down to 39/4 in 10.2 overs. KL Rahul who was dropped from the Test side in the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2022-23, walked in the middle and opened his account with a beautiful boundary through covers against Mitchell Starc. But even though he had a tiny partnership with Hardik Pandya, India needed one big stand as Ravindra Jadeja walked in the 20th over.
Both the batters, early in the partnership, kept on ticking the scorecard with singles before Jadeja found his first boundary in the fine leg region before flicking Starc in the mid-wicket boundary for the same result. Rahul too leaning forward cracked Starc for a boundary straight down the ground before Jadeja cut Marcus Stoinis through point for another boundary.
Just after the 50-run stand between these two for the sixth wicket, KL Rahul recorded his 13th ODI fifty before hammering Adam Zampa wide of long-on for a six. He notched two more boundaries against him to the fine-leg fence; Rahul who had 50 runs in 60 balls against Zampa besides being dismissed for three times, scored 20 runs in 19 balls this game.
Later, Jadeja flicked Starc through backward square leg for a boundary before whipping him in the gap between mid-wicket and mid-on to take India to a five-wicket victory with their unbeaten 108-run stand for the sixth wicket.
KL Rahul now has 1945 ODI runs in 52 ODIs, while Jadeja has 2492 ODI runs in 172 games.
Statistical Highlights from India vs Australia, 1st ODI, Wankhede, Mumbai
This is now Australia’s third lowest all-out ODI score against India in India, behind 181 in 2001 in Indore and 141 in Ahmedabad in 1986.
The 108* run stand between Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul is now the second-highest sixth wicket partnership for India against Australia in ODIs in India.
What’s Next
Both these two teams will now meet each other for the second of the three-match ODI series on March 19 at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.