Australia and India restarted their white-ball rivalry after a brilliantly fought Test series which was won by India, who created history by doing so. The T20I series that preceded the Test series was tied 1-1.
The first ODI between the two sides was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and saw Australia winning the toss and batting first. Jason Behrendorff made his ODI debut and India brought in Dinesh Karthik into their playing XI and went in with three quicks.
Skipper Aaron Finch (6) was the first casualty, being clean bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who picked his 100th ODI wicket. Carey made 24 and was caught brilliantly by Rohit in slips off Kuldeep.
Usman Khawaja (59) and Shaun Marsh (54) added 92 runs for the third wicket before Jadeja removed Khawaja and Kuldeep got Marsh. Australia was tumbling along when Peter Handscomb (73) and Stoinis (47*) gave the team a push and Australia ended up making 288/5 in their 50 overs.
For India, Bhuvneshwar (2/66) and Kuldeep (2/54) were the picks of bowlers, with Jadeja chipping in with one wicket.
India needed a good start for the chase, but instead was blown away by Jhye Richardson, as he removed Virat Kohli (3) and Ambati Rayudu (0) in an over, after debutant Jason Behrendorff had picked his first wicket in ODIs, in form of Shikhar Dhawan, who was out LBW for a first ball duck.
At India reeling at 4/3, MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma decided to rebuild the innings and added 137 runs for the 4th wicket. Dhoni scored a painstaking 51 in 96 balls with 3 fours and 1 six and in the process, completed 10,000 ODI runs for India.
He was dismissed at a crucial time by Behrendorff and then Dinesh Karthik followed for 12 runs, dismissed by Richardson.
Rohit Sharma soldiered on as a lone warrior and completed his 22nd ODI century in 110 balls with 7 fours and 4 sixes. He started to move up in the gear as the run rate ascended and was on 133 in 129 balls with 10 fours and 6 sixes before Stoinis had him caught by Maxwell.
His wicket ended India's fight in the chase and though Bhuvneshwar Kumar kept hitting shots and scored 29*, India finished on 254/9 in 50 overs and lost the match by 34 runs.
Jhye Richardson was the pick of the bowlers as he returned his career-best figures in ODI of 4/26 and debutant Jason Behrendorff picked 2/39 in his 10 overs. Marcus Stoinis picked two wickets and Peter Siddle picked a wicket to help Australia.
Australia came back strongly after the 2-1 Test series loss and gave Indian team a jolt after their high. This win was also their 1000th victory in international cricket.
BRIEF SCORES
AUS 288/5 (P HANDSCOMB 73, U KHAWAJA 59; K YADAV 2/54) defeated IND 254/9 (R SHARMA 133; J RICHARDSON 4/26) by 34 runs
