The ODI series opener at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium marked special occasions for captains of both, India and Australia. On this day in 2008, a young – though equally zealous – Virat Kohli had lifted the ICC U-19 World Cup for the country. Meanwhile, his counterpart, Aaron Finch, was wearing the Australian colours for the 100th time in 50-over cricket.

Winning the toss, the Aussies chose to set the target for the first time on this tour of India. Both teams brought in reinforcements after the T20Is, bringing into play the potential combinations for the ICC Cricket World Cup – Ambati Rayadu, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Shami coming in for the hosts and the visitors giving Ashton Turner his first ODI cap.

Mohammed Shami began with a maiden and Jasprit Bumrah, on his third ball, forced Finch to poke at a peach of a delivery that sailed safely into Dhoni’s gloves. The Australian skipper’s dearth of runs continued against India. At 23/1 in eight overs, the Kangaroos were yet to find their footing in the game.

However, with Marcus Stoinis – Australia’s ODI Player of the Year – and Khawaja in the middle, the visitors steadily got into their own. The duo managed to lay a concrete foundation, timing and sensible shot selection being the staple features of their 87-run partnership for the second wicket.

In the 21st over, Kedar Jadhav, with his magical arm got Stoinis out. A ball that was up for the taking was hit straight to Kohli at short mid-wicket. Peter Handscomb joined Khawaja next who brought up his sixth ODI fifty. The Men in Blue regained their grip over the tie as chinaman Kuldeep Yadav sent him back right after he had reached his half-century.

With only 98 on the board and three wickets down in 24 overs, the Kangaroos were in dire need of rescuing, and they had – Glenn Maxwell the perfect man for the job given his recent form.

Wary of his ominous touch, Kohli brought Bumrah back into the attack to dent the Australian side even further. The wicket, though, came via Kuldeep as Handscomb fell prey to a flighted delivery that went through the gap between his bat and pad for an easy Dhoni stumping.

The Australian innings saw a chain of short partnerships that never bloomed entirely. Shami cleaning Maxwell’s stumps came as a major blow for the Aussies as their prospects of posting a challenging total were further dimmed. However, the 62-run partnership between Alex Carey and Nathan Coulter-Nile was a commendable effort to help the Aussies finish on a competent note.

A good bowling display from the Men in Blue restricted the visitors to 236/7 from their 50 overs. Shami’s overs were fruitful for India as he finished with impressive figures of 10-2-44-2. Bumrah also got a couple to his name.

Rohit Sharma started the Indian chase with an effortless boundary off a Jason Behrendorff delivery. However, on the other end, Coulter-Nile sent Dhawan back for a golden duck. Like in the Australian innings, the Indian top order needed rebuilding. Captain Kohli and the Hitman got to the task.

The top two ODI batsmen in the world had done well to get India to 80/1 when Kohli faltered to an Adam Zampa delivery. The leggie caught the Indian captain plumb in front of the wicket just as he had his 50th half-century in sight.

Rohit, from there, found it difficult to score with Pat Cummins tightening the screws. The wicket became ever slower as runs started to dry up. His’s 37-run innings, far from his smooth-flowing knocks, came to an end when his leading edge found Finch at mid-off. Rayadu, too, had a brief stay at the wicket courtesy of Zampa’s trickery with the ball. With four wickets down just for 99, the hosts had an uphill task ahead of them.

As the game progressed, the graph of the Indian batting chart was looking identical to Australia’s – being unable to find neither rhythm nor runs in the middle overs. MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav were prudent with their shots, to not lose wickets and pilot the innings from thereon.

The flow of runs that was sporadic became more continual as the duo found the fence more frequently. MS Dhoni kept talking to Kedar Jadhav and ensured that India don’t lose any further wickets. Once Kedar got going, he played second fiddle, batting Australia out of the game – slowly and steadily.

Both Jadhav and Dhoni played responsibly, registering crucial half-centuries. The game went on to the final overs, but the Men in Blue certainly had the upper hand.

The finish to the game was no different from the Melbourne game, where the same duo had pulled India out of the trench, helping them emerge victoriously. India won the game with six wickets remaining, getting off the mark in the series.

The second ODI will be played in Nagpur on 5th March.