Australia wins by 66 runs against India

Australia has taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series after pulling off a 66-run win against India. 

This is the first ODI Australia played against an Indian team led by Virat Kohli. 

India did try to give a good fight though, with Hardik Pandya and Shikhar Dhawan’s 128=run partnership on the fifth wicket. But it didn’t make much of a difference in front of the massive 375 run target set by Australia in the first half of the game. 

Both Pandya and Dhawan were dismissed by Australian leg spinner Adam Zampa, crushing the hopes of India. Before getting dismissed, Pandya got 90 runs in 76 balls and Dhawan scored 74 playing 86 balls. 

The beginning of India’s innings was not bad, by any mean. The chase with Dhawan and Mayank Agarwal added 53 runs before the first wicket fell. Captain Virat Kohli had a lifeline as Zampa dropped a catch. But shortly after both him and Shreyas Iyer were dismissed by Hazlewood in the same over. Leaving India’s score 80/3 in 9.5 overs. 

India ended up scoring 308 by losing 8 wickets at the end of the 50th over.

The Australian side, on the other hand, had two centuries and a half-century in one match that built the massive 375 run innings. The captain AJ Finch scored the highest 114 by playing 124 while the man of the match SPD Smith obtained 105 runs in only 66 balls hitting 11 fours and 4 massive sixes.