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India vs Australia: Virat Kohli & Co. start the tour with 66-run defeat

India vs Australia: Virat Kohli & Co. start the tour with 66-run defeat

India vs Australia: Virat Kohli & Co. start the tour with 66-run defeat

Indian cricket team’s Australia tour of 2020-21 was off to the worst possible start as the Men in Blue, in retro jersey, suffered a crushing 66-run defeat at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney on Friday. Australian skipper Aaron Finch, Steve Smith and Josh Hazlewood were the pick of the players for the hosts with the former two scoring thunderous centuries.

Australia, batting first, piled on a mammoth score of 374/6 in 50 overs as Finch and Steve smoked centuries while David Warner (69) and Glenn Maxwell (45) contributed with crucial runs. The Indian bowlers looked rusty and sloppy with Mohammed Shami standing out with figures 3-59 in 10 overs.

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Chasing a mighty 375, India started off well with Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan stitching a 53-run stand. However, Australian bowlers stood tall as Hazlewood sent Agarwal packing for 22. Skipper Virat Kohli started off well but was caught for pace by Hazlewood. Shreyas Iyer endured the same fate.

Adam Zampa continued his terrific run with the ball in ODI cricket as he picked up four wickets while sending the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya.

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Hardik and Dhawan hung around for a bit and played some great strokes to take the game a bit deeper. While Dhawan was finally sent packing for 74, Hardik followed suit after a cracking 90 off 76 deliveries. Mohammed Shami and Navdeep Saini stuck a six each in the end as India finished at 308-8 in 50 overs.

Australia, with the win, take a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series with the next match scheduled to be played on Sunday at SCG.