Mitchell Marsh spoiled counterpart Shubman Gill’s ODI captaincy debut after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli struggled in their much-anticipated comeback to international cricket.
On a damp day at Optus Stadium, the series-opening ODI was reduced to 26 overs per side with India making 136 for 9, after a series of rain delays frustrated the crowd of 42,423, having slumped to 45 for 4 against impressive new-ball bowling, particularly from Josh Hazlewood.
The weather did improve later in the day as Marsh’s unbeaten 46 off 52 balls powered Australia past their revised target of 131 runs in the 22nd over. ODI debutant Matt Renshaw finished 21 not out – almost nine years after he made his Test debut.
There was an expectation that Marsh and fellow opener Travis Head would come out aggressively, but batting was not easy in seaming conditions under lights. Head’s recent patchy form continued after slashing left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh straight to deep third, raising India’s hopes.
Marsh played against type initially, scoring just a couple of singles off his first nine deliveries, until muscling Arshdeep for six over the leg-side. With his eye in, he took the aerial route to good effect and was in total command apart from copping a blow to the helmet from a Mohammed Siraj short ball.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Australia with Matt Short unable to make the most of his chance at No. 3, tamely succumbing on 8 to left-arm spinner Axar Patel who was the standout performer for India with a strong allround effort.
Wicketkeeper-batter Josh Philippe did grab his opportunity with a rollicking 37 from 29 balls in his return to the ODI team after four years having earlier performed well with the gloves.
It was a disappointing ODI return for India since their Champions Trophy triumph in March. Their batting order was not helped by numerous rain delays as the covers were used for the first time at Optus Stadium since the ground opened in 2018.
During the brief passages of play, their top order struggled to handle the back of a length bowling from Australia’s trio of quicks. Much to the disappointment of the many fans wearing blue shirts in the terraces, Rohit made a scratchy 8 while Kohli fared even worse after falling for an eight-ball duck. (ESPNcricinfo)
The post Uneventful ODI return for Rohit and Kohli as Australia canter to seven-wicket triumph appeared first on News Room Guyana.
