Australia storm past India as returning Rohit, Kohli fail in opening ODI

PERTH (Agencies): Australia’s stand-in captain Mitchell Marsh continued his fine run of form on Sunday, scoring 46 not out and leading his side to a seven-wicket triumph over India in the weather-affected first One-day international at Perth Stadium. India limped to 136-9 from 26 overs, interrupted four times by rain, setting Australia a revised target of 131, which the hosts reached in 21.1 overs. The sea of blue in the 42,423-strong crowd did not have to wait to see Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli after India were put into bat. Having retired from the game’s other formats with an eye on the 2027 World Cup, the former captains made their return to national duty for the first time since winning the Champions Trophy in March. Neither looked convincing against Australia’s pace bowlers, with Rohit edging Josh Hazlewood to second slip on eight and Kohli cutting Mitchell Starc to a diving Cooper Connolly at backward point for an eight-ball duck.

“All of their batters are world-class and legends of the game,” said spinner Matthew Kuhnemann, who picked up 2-26. “In one-day cricket, especially, to get wickets up front makes a massive difference.” Newly appointed one-day skipper Shubman Gill (10) tickled seamer Nathan Ellis to wicketkeeper Josh Philippe, leaving India reeling at 37-3 when light drizzle halted play for two hours. The crowd applauded sarcastically when the covers were removed, then in earnest when Shreyas Iyer (11) slashed Hazlewood to the fence. The bowler got his revenge two balls later, however, as Philippe took another leg-side catch. Medium-pacer Mitch Owen and spinner Matthew Kuhnemann kept up the pressure and halted any momentum Axar Patel (31) and KL Rahul (38) generated, although Nitish Kumar Reddy brought some excitement with a rapid 19 off 11 balls. Deputising for Pat Cummins, whose Ashes hopes remain uncertain due to a back injury, Marsh kick-started Australia’s reply by bludgeoning three sixes, carrying over impressive form against South Africa and New Zealand.

Philippe, playing his first ODI since 2021 due to the absence of Josh Inglis and Alex Carey, supported his skipper with an aggressive 37 before holing out to Arshdeep Singh in the deep. Matt Renshaw helped his team home with 21 not out, while Singh, Patel and Washington Sundar claimed one wicket apiece.  “We knew we didn’t have that many runs, but we just wanted to express ourselves,” Arshdeep said. The series moves to Adelaide on Thursday before concluding in Sydney on Saturday.

Brief scores:

Australia 131 for 3 (Marsh 46 not out) beat India 136 for 9 (Rahul 38) by seven wickets (DLS squad).