5 Reasons why India lost the first ODI against Australia
India took on Australia in the first ODI at Sydney Cricket Ground looking to continue their winning run from the recently concluded Test series. Australia fielded a new look side as they tried to zero in on a solid batting line up. Aaron Finch won the toss and decided to bat first.
With the bat, Australia lost the wickets of Aaron Finch and Alex Carey quickly. But some solid contributions from Shaun Marsh, Usman Khawaja got their innings back on track. The star with the bat was Peter Handscomb who used his feet to good effect and scored a brilliant fifty. Some big hits at the end by Marcus Stoinis got Australia to a respectable score of 288.
In reply, India got off to a disastrous start as it lost the wickets of Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and Ambati Rayudu with just 4 runs on the board. M.S Dhoni and Rohit Sharma tried to repair the damage but the required run rate kept on climbing. Rohit played a fabulous knock of 133 runs but did not receive adequate support from the other end. In the end, India lost the contest by 34 runs as the Aussies took a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series.
Let us take a look at the 5 reasons why India lost the match.
#1 Handscomb’s attractive knock
Peter Handscomb had a torrid time in the Test series and could only score 105 runs from the three Test matches that he played in. He was drafted into the one day side in place of Chris Lynn because of his ability to play spin well.
The move paid off for the Australian selectors as Handscomb did a great job in the middle and death overs and got the Aussies to a respectable score of 288 runs. Coming in to bat at no. 5, Handscomb made great use of his feet to put off the Indian bowlers.
His ability to use the crease helped him in scoring runs of even the good length balls. He had a particular liking for Bhuvneshwar Kumar whom he smashed for four fours and a six. His brilliant knock of 73 runs from just 61 balls provided the much-needed impetus to Australia’s innings.