Perth: Australia defeated India in the first One Day international (ODI) by five wickets today. Australia now leads the five match series 1-0. Australia achieved the target of 310 runs set by India in 49.2 overs.
Team India's bowlers remained ineffective in front of Aussie skipper Steve Smith and George Bailey. Debutant Barinder Sran had a dream debut as he dismissed both the Australian openers Aaron Finch and David Warner cheaply.
After the initial burst, Team India's bowlers had a lacklustre performance and look clueless in front of Steve Smith and George Bailey.
The duo first took their team out of the hole and put the Kangaroos on the top. George Bailey scored 112 runs from 120 deliveries, and Steve Smith played a captain's innings of 149 runs from 135 deliveries.
At the fag end of the game R Ashwin had a duel success when he had removed George Bailey and Glenn Maxwell within a few span of deliveries but skipper Steve Smith hold an one end up and took his team to victory.
Earlier, Rohit Sharma smashed his way to a magnificent unbeaten 171 as India piled up an imposing 309 for 3 against Australia in the first ODI of the five-match cricket series, here today.
En route his ninth ODI hundred, the stylish right-hander from Mumbai broke a plethora of records, including the one where he surpassed Sir Vivian Richards' 153 which has been the highest individual score against Australia in an ODI Down Under for the last 37 years.
Rohit faced 163 balls hitting 13 boundaries and seven huge sixes.
He also added 207 runs for the second wicket with vice-captain Virat Kohli (91), who missed a well-deserved hundred. The Indian vice-captain hit 9 boundaries and a six.
Australia got a taste of Rohit's blazing blade especially towards the end when India scored 61 off the last five overs. Their partnership was the highest second for India against Australia in the ODIs surpassing the previous best of 199 set by Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman in Indore back in 2001.
This is also Team India's highest score against Australia in Australia eclipsing the 304 in 2004.
India win toss, opt to bat first
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat in the opening game of the five-match One-Day International (ODI) series at the WACA Ground here on Tuesday.
Team India will look to get their combination right as they renew their fierce rivalry against a confident Australia here, marking the onset of a long limited-overs schedule stretching until the World T20.
The short limited overs series, including five ODIs and three T20 internationals, Down Under will initiate the Indian team's preparations for the marquee ICC World T20 scheduled in March-April. The T20 games will be played after the five ODIs, and Dhoni's boys would like to carry the momentum in the shortest format.
While India won both their warm-up games -- a T20 and 50-over match each -- against the second string Western Australia XI, it is certainly not the best indicator of the kind of challenge they will face from Steve Smith's men.
The visiting team will need to win at least a game in the series to retain their current second position in the ICC ODI Team Championships.
The teams:
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Manish Pandey, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Barinder Sran, Umesh Yadav.
Australia: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Aaron Finch, George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade, James Faulkner, Scott Boland, Josh Hazlewood, Joel Paris.
