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Team India. (Photo Source: BCCI)
India registered a stunning five-wicket victory in the first ODI against Australia at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday, March 17. India’s stand-in skipper Hardik Pandya invited Australia to bat first after winning the toss. Australia posted a mere 188 in 35.4 overs.
Australia got off with a good start as they were 129/2 in the 20th over of their innings but failed to keep their momentum. All-rounder Mitchell Marsh scored a stunning half-century at the top of the order. Marsh first put up a 72-run stand of 63 balls with skipper, Steve Smith. Thereafter, he stitched a crucial 52-run partnership with Marnus Labuschagne. The Indian star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja removed Marsh for 81 off 65. His knock was studded with five maximums and 10 boundaries.
Soon Mohammed Shami took over the charge and dismissed Josh Inglis, Cameron Green, and Marcus Stoinis as the Australian batting order collapsed from 169/4 in the 28th over. During his three-over spell, Shami picked up three wickets and left the Australians reeling at 184 for 7 in the 32nd over. Mohammed Siraj also claimed 3 wickets as the hosts bowled out Australia for 188 runs.
Australia started bowling with a lot of promise in India’s innings. Marcus Stoinis came up good with an early strike in the form of Ishan Kishan for just three runs. After that, Starc struck twice by dismissing key players in Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav. Notably, Yadav departed for zero. Starc later got Shubman Gill with the help of a stunning catch from Labuschagne.
Later, captain Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul steadied the Indian chase to some extent. However, Pandya was caught by Cameron Green in Stoinis’ ball. While the hosts suffered a top-order collapse Rahul and Jadeja changed the complexion of the match. Rahul, who plays at No. 5 in ODIs, remained unbeaten on 75, while Jadeja too scored 45 without losing his wicket. India chased down the target of 189 runs against Australia in 39.5 overs to win the first ODI by 5 wickets.
Notably, KL Rahul’s shady time with the bat finally ended with his match-winning knock. This led to a meme fest by the cricket aficionados.
Here are the best memes from IND vs AUS game-
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