Rohit Sharma scored a hard-fought century but his knock was in vain as India lost the first ODI of the series against Australia at Sydney by 34 runs on Saturday (January 12).
Chasing 288 to win, Rohit scored 133 off 129 balls but it was a top-order collapse and a failure to keep up with the run-rate in the middle overs which handed the home team the win and a series lead.
Jhye Richardson was the pick of the bowlers for Australia, returning figures of 4-26 in his 10 overs. He was ably supported by Jason Behrendorff and Marcus Stoinis, who took two wickets apiece.
The stable partnership came from Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh, both left-handers getting half-centuries. They took their time, scored in singles and doubles but set the base in the middle overs. Khaleel Ahmed was expensive, which forced India to even make Ambati Rayudu bowl a couple of overs.
