Australia beat India despite Rohit Sharma’s 171

Opener Rohit Sharma smashed an unbeaten 171 to power India to 309 for three wickets against Australia in the first of the five-match one-day global series in Perth on Tuesday. Since then, the duo has posted a near 200-run partnership. PRAISE FOR SRAN Dhoni had words of praise for left-arm seamer Barinder Sran, who got 3/56 in his debut but also did not forget to mention that the jury is still out on the Punjab youngster. They even surpassed Dhawan-Kohli’s 129-run record for the highest second wicket partnership against Australia in Australia.

Use the hashtag #AUSvIND to tweet about the live match. Hazlewood test Dhawan with a short-pitch stuff but the Indian opener top-edges one to Mitchell Marsh at long leg. Dhawan was walking back with just 9 runs to his name. The sleepy town of Perth exudes a feeling of complacence and contentment, and it nearly feels like no one knows Australia are facing off against India. India 37/1 after 7 overs.

After Rohit’s brilliant knock took India to a big total, Sran gave the visitors a good start in the second innings as Australia were 21 for two in the fifth over and after that came the controversial decision on Bailey.

“India will be searching for chinks in the Australian armour on this tour, safe in the knowledge that they already have a ¬blueprint for victory in home conditions”.

Smith and Bailey’s stand, which spanned 37 overs, trumped the 207 added for India by Rohit and Virat Kohli, who made 91. “(Defending) 310 is a lot of runs on any wicket in the world”.

While it was another heartbreaking end to a Rohit century that ended in a losing cause (his T20 hundred and ODI hundred against SA were scored in defeats), Australian skipper Smith again turned out to be India’s nemesis pacing his innings to perfection. After the ODIs, India and Australia will face off in 3 Twenty20 Internationals. In contrast, if India lose all the five matches, then they will slip behind South Africa and will join fourth-ranked New Zealand on 111 points, but will be ranked third when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point, an ICC release stated.

Ravindra Jadeja (10) remained unbeaten alongside Rohit.

Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steve Smith (captain), George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Mitch Marsh, Steve Wade, James Faulkner, Joel Paris, Scott Boland, Josh Hazlewood.