Australian batsmen stumbled in what effectively became a T20 run chase to go 1-0 down in their five-match ODI series against India.
Needing 164 from 21 overs after a two-hour rain delay in Chennai, Australia lost their top four batsmen in just eight overs as their run rate stalled badly at just above four runs an over. Glenn Maxwell briefly gave rise to hopes of an unlikely victory when he hit 39 from 18 balls, including three consecutive sixes off left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, but his dismissal brought a swift end to the match. Yadav (2-33) and fellow wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (3-30) did the bulk of the damage as the tourists ended their innings at 9-137 – 27 short of the revised target.
Former India skipper MS Dhoni (79 from 88 balls) had earlier delighted fans in his adopted home city as he and exciting all-rounder Hardik Pandya (83 from 66) shared a century stand to propel India to 7-281 after Nathan Coulter-Nile (3-44) had destroyed the home side’s top order.
While Maxwell took a stunning one-handed grab at point to remove Virat Kohli for nought, the Australians were left to rue two crucial missed chances in the field and they will now take a series deficit into Thursday’s second match in Kolkata. Smith’s drop of Rohit Sharma on four cost only 24 runs, but his grassing of a tough chance offered by Pandya when he was on 13 was match-defining.
Similarly, India’s total would have been much smaller had debutant Hilton Cartwright hit the stumps when Dhoni was stranded mid-pitch on eight, but his throw narrowly missed the woodwork. Playing his first international since June last year, Coulter-Nile bowled with impressive pace and early swing to remove Ajinkya Rahane, Kohli and Manish Pandey in the space of just seven balls to leave the hosts reeling at 3-11 after they elected to bat first.
Marcus Stoinis (2-54) then chipped in with the wickets of Rohit (28 from 44 balls) and Kedar Jadhav (40 from 54), both caught on the pull, to have the tourists buzzing with the score at 5-87. But Dhoni and Pandya, India’s heroes old and new, halted Australia’s momentum before the younger man unleashed a stunning counter-attack.
A pivotal moment of the innings was the 37th over when a tactical gamble from Smith came within inches of producing a wicket. The skipper positioned James Faulkner directly behind the stumps at the bowler’s end inside the circle – effectively at short straight hit – and a lofted drive from Pandya off Adam Zampa (1-66) narrowly avoided Faulkner’s out-stretched hand on its way to the rope.
Emboldened by his good fortune, Pandya deposited Zampa’s next three deliveries over the fence straight down the ground, including one that cannoned into the advertising hoarding at the top of the pavilion. Twenty-four came from that Zampa over and 133 from the last 14 in all, even though the leg-spinner did eventually remove Pandya attempting what would have been his sixth six.
But the departure of the 23-year-old simply meant it was Dhoni’s turn to accelerate. Having crawled to a half-century in 75 balls, his 66th ODI fifty and his 100th in all internationals, Dhoni slammed 29 runs from his final 13 deliveries to rapturous applause from the packed MA Chidambaram Stadium, save for the noticeably vacant western grandstand that was again unused due to a protracted construction saga and concerns over spectator safety.
The 118-run stand between Pandya and Dhoni and a handy 32no from Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave the home side all the momentum and that continued after the rain delay when Cartwright, Smith and Travis Head were all dismissed for single-figure scores.
Australia will head north to Kolkata on Monday still without an ODI win since January and with the series scoreline already against them.