IND VS AUD ODI: KL Rahul’s Nervy Fifty pulls out India from Difficult stage to claim 1-0 lead in Series
IND VS AUD ODI: India middle-order batter KL Rahul struck a gritty half-century and raised an unbeaten century stand with all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja to guide India to a nervy five-wicket win over Australia in the ODI series opener in Mumbai on Friday.
KL Rahul might have had trouble in Test cricket of late, but he once again proved his worth as an ace No. 5 batter in ODIs with a high-quality half-century in tough batting conditions to give India the series lead in Mumbai.
IND VS AUD ODI: In Brief
KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja’s unbeaten 108-run stand off 123 balls took India over the line after Mitchell Starc got them into a bit of a tricky situation chasing 189. India had lost Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav within the first 11 overs.
Captain Hardik Pandya and Rahul then steadied the Indian chase and got the hosts back on top. Australia then got a bit of an opening with the wicket of Pandya but that was as far as they went with Rahul and Jadeja then shutting up shop. Rahul ended the match unbeaten on 75 off 91 balls while Jadeja hit the winning runs and reached 45 off 69.
Indian Bowlers got the Best of the Guests
Australia’s innings started with a lot of promise but burned out in the middle overs. Australia looked set for a big score when Mitchell Marsh accelerated after scoring his half century. He first put up a 72-run stand off 63 balls with Steve Smith and then a 52-run stand off 43 balls with Marnus Labuschagne.
Marsh had scored 41 runs in the latter stand and was on 81 off 65 balls when he fell to Ravindra Jadeja. Mohammed Shami took over after that, getting the wickets of Josh Inglis, Cameron Green and Marcus Stoinis as the Australian batting order fell from 169/4 in the 28th over to being 188 all out in the 36th.
India scripts history by dismissing Australia in least number of overs
India, courtesy of Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Ravindra Jadeja, rattled the opposition and bundled them out for just 188 in 35.4 overs, making it the least number of overs India have taken to dismiss Australia in a one-day international.
Thank you for reading.
