India vs. Australia, 1st ODI | Rahul and Jadeja turn things around for India.

Despite both sides’ speedsters ruling the roost, K.L. Rahul’s standout knock proved decisive as India took the lead in the three-match ODI series against Australia.
Rahul Dravid’s unbeaten 75 (91b, 7×4, 1×6), ably assisted with the willow by stand-in captain Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja, saw India reach the target of 189 with five wickets and 61 balls to spare.
Rahul was the night’s second-highest individual scorer, trailing only Mitchell Marsh’s incredible 81. Rahul came in to bat with India trailing at 16 for three, and when he took guard an over later, his first goal was to prevent Mitchell Starc from completing his hat-trick, after the pacer had accounted for Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav with inswingers off the last two balls of his previous over.
The hat-trick ball u2014 Rahul’s first u2014 was crunched through covers for a four. From then on, until Jadeja whipped Starc for a four through mid-wicket to complete the formalities, Rahul was in his element with the willow in the format that he prefers.
But it wasn’t easy. Shubman Gill’s scratchy knock ended in the left-sixth armer’s over, with an uppish cut to backward-point, while he saw off Starc’s opening burst.
Marcus Stoinis brought Australia back into the game just as Rahul and Hardik u2014 who had taken India to safety in a similar low-scoring affair against Sri Lanka in Kolkata in January u2014 appeared to have closed the door on Australia.
Similarly, Kuldeep Yadav of India bore the brunt of Marsh’s wrath. The burly all-rounder opened the innings alongside Travis Head, who was playing as a specialist batter in the series after recovering from ankle surgery.
source: Sawera PashaEven Hardik and Shardul Thakur’s magical arm couldn’t stop him as he tonked the duo for three sixes on the on-side. Marsh’s arms became even more free after spin was introduced. Kuldeep suffered the most, as he was bowled for 21 runs off 11 balls by Marsh.
Marsh’s attempted hoick off Jadeja’s tossed-up delivery was eventually top-edged to short third-man. Jadeja was quickly back in action, catching Marnus Labuschagne with a lunging catch.
As Australia lost the last six wickets for 19 runs, Shami and Siraj wiped out the lower middle order, allowing the 27,000-odd spectators to return home in good time.