Aaron Finch and Steve Smith scored fine hundreds as Australia comprehensively defeated India by 66 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match one-day series at Sydney on Friday.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, the duo of Finch and David Warner got Australia off to a fantastic start by adding 156 runs for the opening wicket, before Mohammed Shami provided the breakthrough by dismissing the latter, caught behind for a fine 69.
Finch and Steve Smith were involved in a 108 run stand for the second wicket, before the former fell to Jasprit Bumrah for a superb 114 from 124 balls.
Marcus Stoinis fell to Yuzvendra Chahal for a first ball duck.
Glenn Maxwell provided impetus by scoring a quickfire 45 off 19 balls, before being caught by Ravindra Jadeja at long on off Shami. His innings comprised of five fours and three sixes.
The former Australia skipper Smith scored a magnificent 105 runs off just 66 balls, as the home side ended up with a mammoth total of 374/6 at the end of their allotted 50 overs.
Mohammed Shami was India’s best bowler with figures of 3/59, while Bumrah, Saini and Chahal claimed a wicket each.
Chasing 375 ,India got off to a solid start with openers Shikhar Dhawan and Mayank Agarwal adding 53 runs for the opening wicket, before Agarwal was dismissed off a short ball by Josh Hazlewood for 22.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli who was dropped by Adam Zampa at fine leg, failed to make the most of the opportunity, as he was caught at short midwicket by Finch for 21.
Shreyas Iyer was caught by wicket-keeper Alex Carey as he tried to duck under a bouncer by Hazlewood.
KL Rahul looked good in his short stay before falling to Zampa for 12.
The pair of Hardik Pandya and Dhawan resurrected the innings with a 128 run stand for the fifth wicket, before the latter was caught by Mitchell Starc at mid off for a valuable 74.
Leg-spinner Zampa dashed India’s hopes as he dismissed Pandya caught at long on by Starc for a quickfire 90. His innings comprised of seven fours and four sixes.
Ravi Jadeja and Navdeep Saini scored some handy runs in the end, as India ended up with 308/8 at the end of their allotted 50 overs.
Adam Zampa was Australia’s best bowler with figures of 4/54, while Hazlewood ended up with 3 wickets.
Steve Smith was declared the Man of the Match.