The first match between India and Australia saw many new records getting set and some old ones getting shattered.
As India beat Australia in the first ODI of the five-match series, Virat Kohli became the first captain to register a winning percentage of 80 in ODI’s. India and Australia now travel to Kolkata for the second ODI on September 21st (Thursday).
In the first ODI, India had lost half of their team with 87 on the board in the 21st over when Hardik Pandya came onto bat along with MS Dhoni. Dhoni and Pandya both anchored the innings from there on and guided India to a respectable 281.
However, heavens opened up in the mid-innings and played a spoilsport in the match. The Australian total was reduced to 164 in 21 overs via Duckworth-Lewis method.
Australians were off track from the very beginning, as they were unable to cope-up with the required rate. India’s wrist spinners then rammed through Australia’s middle and lower order, as the Oz could only manage 137/9 in their 21 overs.
In the course of the match, Dhoni scored his seventh fifty against Australia and 66th overall. He is now averaging 100.25 in six innings at the Chepauk Stadium including two hundred and a fifty.
Hardik Pandya, on the other hand, posted his career-best score of 83 off 66 balls surpassing his previous best of 76 against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy final. It was also his third half-century of his career. Pandya has also become the fourth Indian to score 75+ runs and pick up two or more wickets in a match. The list includes Sachin Tendulkar (141 + 4/38 at Dhaka on October 28, 1998), Robin Singh (75 + 2/43 at The Oval on June 4, 1999) and Yuvraj Singh (113 + 2/18 against West Indies in Chennai).
Pandya has now hit 32 sixes in 17 innings in 2017 which is the most by an Indian batsman this year. The partnership between Pandya and Dhoni was the first 100-run partnership for the sixth wicket against Australia. Overall this was the second 100-run sixth partnership for India.
Kohli also registered 12th duck of his career and second in 2017. The first one came during the Champions Trophy clash against Sri Lanka.