Pranav Mathur, Pune
Successfully breaking the two decade long Mohali curse, India beat Australia in the opening one day international on Friday by five wickets as Mohammed Shami led the charge with the ball and claimed career best figures of 5-51 in 10 overs. To support Shami, the frontline batsmen played a huge role in setting the pace of the innings, followed by a half century by the captain K.L. Rahul.
After being asked to bat first, Australia put up a total of 276 getting all out in exactly 50 overs even though 300 seemed like an attainable total. India chased down the target with eight balls yet to spare, with both openers scoring a half century and putting up a partnership of 142 runs. Shubhman Gill’s quick knock of 74(63) gave a good start to the team, which was followed by a gritty knock by the captain, who anchored the innings till the end, scoring 58 in 63 balls and finished things off with a six.
Tensions were created in the middle as Adam Zampa took two successive wickets of the set batsmen Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shubhman Gill while Shreyas Iyer was run out and Ishan Kishan was caught after attempting an uppercut. But Suryakumar Yadav rose up to the occasion by scoring a half century for the first time in 18 months in ODI cricket, and also contributing to an important partnership with the captain that lasted till the death overs of the match, undeniably sealing the victory for India.
Former Australian batsman Mark Waugh was supportive of Suryakumar Yadav even after his bad performances, and believed that he is a fit player for the ODI format. He felt that the basics of playing the game were never going to change, and the star batsman is capable of applying the basics to the best use in the format.