IND vs AUS, 1st ODI: Dhoni, Jadhav fifties guide India to 6-wicket win

India reached the target in 48.2 overs, riding on a 141-run unconquered stand between Kedar and Dhoni (59 no off 72 balls), to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series

Bringing up his 34^th ODI half-century off 68 balls and then finishing the game in style with a four – that’s how Mahendra Singh Dhoni sailed the Indian ship to the shore on Saturday at Hyderabad. Taking the chase deep for the umpteenth time along with Kedar Jadhav’s unbeaten 81, Dhoni brought India back on winning track as they beat Australia by six wickets in the first ODI.

India reached the target in 48.2 overs, riding on a 141-run unconquered stand between Kedar and Dhoni (59 no off 72 balls), to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

As has been the case these days, Dhoni was once again unable to rotate the strike at the start of his innings and the onus was on Kedar to hit the boundaries after they joined hands at 99 for four with skipper Virat Kohli (44, 45 balls) and his deputy Rohit Sharma (37, 66 balls) back in the hut.

While Dhoni hit six fours and a six off Nathan Coulter-Nile, it was the diminutive Maharashtra man, who did the hard yards of finding the gaps.

Be it the inside out boundaries off Adam Zampa or those cheeky tennis ball dabs off his hips or a steer through the third man, Kedar was everything that Dhoni needed in those middle overs.

On the way to his fifth half-century, Kedar hit nine fours and a six as he upped the ante once Dhoni started suffering from cramps, getting those big shots out of the closet.

That age is catching up was visible when Dhoni was taking those doubles on big Australian grounds but he did enough to complete his 71st half-century in his 339th ODI. Fittingly, Dhoni finished the game with successive boundaries off Marcus Stoinis.

In the afternoon, Indian bowlers controlled the proceedings like seasoned puppeteers, pulling strings at will to restrict Australia to a sub-par 236 for 7. It was a vastly different performance from the bowling unit which maintained discipline for the better part of the 50 overs with Mohammed Shami (2/44 in 10 overs) showing the way.

Kuldeep Yadav (2/46 in 10 overs), Ravindra Jadeja (0/33 in 10 overs) and Kedar Jadhav (1/31) made up for a rare off-day that Jasprit Bumrah (2/60 in 10 overs), had by his standards. This effectively meant Australia couldn't score 28.1 overs out of the 50 overs during Indian innings.