IMAGES from the 1st ODI played between India and Australia at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on Saturday
A cool Mahendra Singh Dhoni joined a smart Kedar Jadhav's to help India go past Australia and win the first ODI by six wickets in Hyderabad Saturday.
Chasing 237 for victory, India reached the target in 48.2 overs, after a 141-run unconquered stand between Jadhav (81 no, 87 balls) and Dhoni (59 no off 72 balls)
India take a 1-0 lead in the five-match ODI series.
India made heavy weather of an easy target on a slowish wicket.
Dhoni was once again unable to rotate the strike at the start of his innings and the onus was on Jadhav to hit the boundaries after they joined hands at 99 for four with skipper Virat Kohli (44, 45 balls) and his deputy Rohit Sharma (37, 66 balls) back in the hut.
While Dhoni hit six fours and a six off Nathan Coulter-Nile, it was the diminutive Jadhav, who did the hard yards of finding the gaps.
Be it the inside out boundaries off Adam Zampa or those cheeky tennis ball dabs off his hips or a steer through the third man, Kedar was everything that Dhoni needed in those middle overs.
On the way to his fifth half-century, Kedar hit nine fours and a six as he upped the ante once Dhoni started suffering from cramps, getting those big shots out of the closet.
Dhoni completed his 71st half-century in his 339th ODI and fittingly finished the game with successive boundaries off Marcus Stoinis to take India across the finish line.
Indian bowlers controlled the proceedings like seasoned puppeteers pulling strings at will to restrict Australia to a sub-par 236 for 7 in the first ODI in Hyderabad on Saturday.
Usman Khawaja (50) and Glenn Maxwell (40) -- the top two contributors for Australia -- weren't exactly comfortable against an Indian attack that bowled as many as 169 dot balls.
What the statistics won't reveal is the contribution of Jadhav as the sixth bowler and Jadeja, who stifled the Aussies during the second Powerplay.
This was after Shami bowled a brilliant wicketless first spell which was seen off by Marcus Stoinis (37 off 53 balls) and Khawaja (50 off 76 balls), who added 87 runs for the second wicket after early dismissal of Aaron Finch.
It was Khawaja, who was first to break the shackles with a cover drive off Bumrah and a six off Kuldeep, introduced in the last over of the first Powerplay.
With only 38 runs coming in the first Powerplay, the duo, especially Stoinis, decided to up the ante against Vijay Shankar (0/22 in 3 overs), hitting him for a flurry of boundaries.
In the next five overs, Australia scored 33 and looked like regaining ground when Jadhav (1/31 from 7 overs) got a lucky breakthrough with a rank half-tracker. Stoinis mistimed the pull shot to Virat Kohli at mid-wicket.
Khawaja completed his sixth half-century in ODIs but couldn't get the elevation while giving Kuldeep the charge. Shankar took a well-judged catch at the deep mid-wicket boundary running sideways.
Maxwell joined Peter Handscomb at 97 for three and the duo farmed the strike well during their run-a-ball partnership.
Handscomb used his feet well but Kuldeep managed to produce a classical chinaman's delivery. Handscomb was deceived twice – first in the air and then it came back sharply for Dhoni to complete the easiest of stumpings.
Once Handscomb was out, India controlled the second Powerplay with Kedar and Jadeja choking the run-flow.
Despite not getting wickets, Jadeja bowled two miserly spells – 5-0-15-0 and 5-0-18-0. To top it, he was hit for only two boundaries, and bowled 34 dot balls.
It was a tough period to bat as Maxwell and debutant Ashton Turner (21) found out during their 36-run stand for the fifth wicket before Shami got his reward in his second spell, removing both of them.
Nathan Coulter-Nile and Alex Carey then took Australia to 236 after a tough time in the middle.
