Australia and India are playing the first of the three-match ODI series at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Having won the toss, Aaron Finch decided that the hosts would bat first. India chose to go with four specialist bowlers and two bowlers in the form of Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja while Mayank Agarwal grabbed the opener’s spot in place of the injured Rohit Sharma.
Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah started the proceedings for India and both were on the money from the word go as they bowled at good lines and lengths. Shami, in particular, was extremely tidy in the first two overs as he gave away just two runs in his first twelve balls. Bumrah was a tad expensive, however, he ensured that the Australian openers didn’t get any freebies.
Shami gave away 12 runs in his first spell of three overs. The right-arm speedster returned to bowl his fourth and the final over of the powerplay and once away he was economical, giving away just a solitary run. In his first four overs, Shami gave away just 13 runs as Australia finished the powerplay at 51/0.
Meanwhile, Australian openers were going strong with both Aaron Finch and David Warner scoring runs easily. At the time of publishing this article, Australia reached 84/0 at the end of 17 overs. India will be eager to get the first breakthrough and put a brake on the scoring rate.
