The first ODI between India and Australia at the SCG on Friday had a retro feel to it. India's deep blue outfit was similar to the one they wore during the 1992 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, and in South Africa later in the year.
Assembly Election Results
On both those trips, they played almost an ancient brand of cricket. Batsmen got bounced out, fielders let balls through their legs and dropped catches and bowlers sprayed the ball all over the place. Virat Kohli's team did their best to mirror that in all departments as they got outplayed by 66 runs against a power packed Australian line-up.
SCORECARDChasing a mammoth 375 on a good batting pitch, India ended with 308/8, thanks largely to the efforts of Hardik Pandya (90; 76b, 7x4, 4x6) and left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan (74; 86b, 10x4), and their fighting alliance of 128 for the fifth wicket. The margin looked lesser because towards the end, Australia tried their part-time spinners to boost the over-rate, which was criminally slow by both teams.
Only briefly during that stand did India look competitive. The rest of the top-order looked rushed against the pace of Josh Hazlewood, who used the short ball expertly to prise out Mayank Agarwal, Kohli and
Shreyas Iyer.
Leg-spinner Adam Zampa also had an excellent outing, dismissing KL Rahul early and then coming back in his second spell to break the threatening stand between Dhawan and Pandya to end with figures of 4-45.
Skipper
Aaron Finch (114; 124b, 9x4, 2x6) belted his 17th ODI ton and put on 156 for the opening wicket with
David Warner (69; 76b, 6x4) to set the foundation for a massive total after winning the toss. But it was perennial nemesis
Steve Smith, with a 66-ball 105 (11x4, 4x6), who really bruised India. Glenn Maxwell's cameo (45; 19b, 5x4, 3x6) added salt to the wounds as India's bowling and fielding wilted under the onslaught.
Australia's openers started watchfully, but once they realised that they were batting on a road, they got more adventurous.
Jasprit Bumrah was guilty of some wayward bowling. He has struggled to pick wickets in white-ball international cricket post his injury. Usually, penetrative and potent in the Powerplay, he is yet to scalp a batsman this year in the first 10 overs.
Realising the need for a breakthrough, skipper Kohli turned to his spinners, leggie Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja. But the Aussies accelerated. Chahal, in particular, was quite expensive as both Warner and Finch targeted him. His 1-89 is the most conceded by an Indian spinner in ODIs.
The impressive Mohammad Shami, bowling his second spell, provided the visitors the first breakthrough with the wicket of Warner. And if India, whose body language on the field was curiously devoid of energy or intent, were hoping for a respite, it wasn't to be. Smith, who now averages 63.25 against India in ODIs against a career average of 43.10, survived a close leg-before shout off Jadeja, which was given, but was reviewed and reversed.
The switch was flicked and indicated that this was Smith's day. The former skipper, who struggled in the IPL, had warned the Indians a couple of days ago, saying he had rediscovered his batting rhythm and had found his hands. He had found his legs too and it was on full display on his home turf.
Smith and Finch hit fine centuries
Moving around the crease, flicking off-stump balls to mid-wicket, walking towards the leg side to slap bowlers over cover point for sixes, slog-weeping spinners, it was a buffet of extraordinary strokeplay from Steve Smith.
Use your cricket knowledge to play CricPlay, India's first free fantasy cricket app