Australia beat India by five wickets in first ODI

Ashwin removed Glenn Maxwell (6) in his next over and Smith was dismissed in the final over but Australia secured a five-wicket victory with four balls to spare and claimed a 1-0 lead in the series.

All-rounder Mitch Marsh, who will be rested from the second one-dayer in an attempt to nurse his body through the series, grabbed at his troublesome hamstrings a few times throughout India’s innings.

Opting to bat first, India scored 309-3, thanks to Rohit for his unbeaten 171 and Virat Kohli, who fell nine short of scoring a hundred.

Sharma finished unbeaten on 171 hitting 13 boundaries and seven sixes in his 163-ball knock.

While India won both their warm-up games – a T20 and 50-over match each – against the second string Western Australia XI, it is certainly not the best indicator of the kind of challenge they will face from Steve Smith’s men.

Rohit also became the first Indian batsman to notch up an ODI hundred on the WACA wicket.

Australia have taken significant confidence from their clinical performance against India in which they chased down 310 with relative ease. When he gets going he makes the game look so easy but when he gets out you think why did he play that shot? Despite India’s loss yesterdays, Indian fans still had a reason to be happy as they were treated by an awesome batting display by Rohit “The Hitman” Sharma.

Cricket: While Australia prepares to take a full pace attack into the first ODI against India at the WACA, the visitors are backing their spinners to get the job done on the traditionally bouncy wicket.

The duo completed their 100-stand off 107 balls with Smith and Bailey reaching their half-centuries to put the hosts in control.

He built his innings steadily, bringing up his 50 from 63 balls, his century from 122 and his 150 from 155, mixing quick singles with some powerful boundary hitting.

FOUR: After five dot balls, Rohit finally sends James Faulkner to the ropes with a straight drive past the bowler. His century was his ninth in one-day internationals and third in Australia, a record matched among Indian batsmen only by Laxman.

MS Dhoni backed Test skipper Virat Kohli fully on the pitches controversy by saying “all hell only breaks loose when wickets offer turn”.

Rohit lost Kohli with the score on 243 and was joined at the crease by Dhoni, who joined in with 18 rapid runs before he was caught brilliantly at mid-on by Boland.

The atmosphere in Perth ahead of the opener of the ODI series between the top two ODI teams in the world could not be more different than if it was played in India.