The Indian bowlers put up a stellar show in the ongoing first ODI between India and Australia at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali on Friday. The wrecker-in-chief was veteran pacer Mohammed Shami who starred with the bowl by picking up a five-wicket haul, helping India restrict Australia to 276 on Friday.
Shami bowled brilliantly both in the first and second spell and kept on tormenting the Australian batters throughout the innings. Post the first innings, the Bengal-based pacer was spotted talking to the commentators and he came up with a funny response and left everyone in splits.
"You guys were in the AC, I was there out in the heat. There was not much the fast bowlers were getting out of the wicket so the slower deliveries were a good option to turn to. If they land in the right areas, the results can really go in your favour. It's important to mix things up. It's good feeling to get wickets when you're putting in so much effort. It's good for the team and your own confidence."
Shami showed his finesse and ended the game with impressive figures of 5 for 51 in the first ODI on Friday. Earlier, India’s skipper KL Rahul opted to bowl and the 33-year-old speedster proved this decision right by bowling a solid spell. He also picked up a priced wicket off Steve Smith who departed after making 41 runs off 60 balls.
“We’ll bowl first. Historically a good chasing ground, that’s about it. There are a few boxes that we need to tick and the boxes that we’ve ticked we need to keep doing it better. One more challenge, best team in the world so good to play against them. They are a very competitive team so we’ve enjoyed playing against them. It's always a great challenge”, KL Rahul said during the toss.
Coming late down the order, wicketkeeper Jos Inglis (45 off 45 balls) and Marcus Stoinis (29 off 21 balls) added 62 runs for the sixth wicket and took Australia past the 250-run mark but again Shami got better off Stoinis.