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Update 11:12 IST Another round of Melbourne showers thwarted the efforts to start play at 11:10 AM IST, with match reduced to 46 overs per side. Powerplays would be affected too but the primary concern was the passing away of the water-laden cloud cover.
Over 11 : Matthew Wade heaved the first six of the innings and then followed it up with a four to end the 11th over on a high. However, rain gods played spoilsport and play had to be stopped as covers had to come on the field at MCG.
Overs 7 – 10 Keeping the noose tight on the Australian top order, the Indian pacers executed a game-plan to uphold their team’s image of being an ODI world champion and were right on target in the first phase.
Double Whammy! Over 7.4: Oz were reeling at 19/2 as Vinay Kumar was doubly lethal, claiming the prized scalp of Ricky Ponting. The million dollar baby was surely proving his money’s worth by getting early wickets.
Overs 5.2 – 7: The Indian bowlers were very tight in their line and length, not giving any room to the Australians. Bowling primarily in the good length areas, they restricted the total to 18/1 at the end of 7 overs.
Live Scorecard: India V Australia»
BREAKTHROUGH! Over 5.1: Speedster Vinay Kumar clean bowled dangerman David Warner (6) to draw first blood. Kumar stayed round the wicket for Warner and angled in a full ball on middle and off which cut back in as Warner looked to mow it over mid wicket, missing and the ball crashed into middle and leg stump.
Overs 3 – 5: The first boundary of the Oz innings came in the fifth over off Matthew Wade’s blade with Praveen being the recipient of the special treatment. Slow scoring aside, neither of the sides had an edge at the point as the scorecard read 15/0 at the end of 5 overs.
Overs 1 - 2: Caution was the keyword as openers got their eyes set-in. There was a spot of excitement as the umpires decided to not award any runs for an overthrow in the second over as it was an inadvertent one.
India captain MS Dhoni had won the toss and elected to field first against Australia in the first ODI of the tri-series on Sunday.
India made one change to the squad by resting opener Virender Sehwag. Team India was bolstered by the return of Sachin Tendulkar back into the ODI squad first time after the World Cup final as the visitors locked horns for dominance in the most popular format of the game.
After the win in the second T20, the first one in the tour, the battered and bruised Indian team were able to regain some pride going into the tri-series involving Sri Lanka and Australia.
Meanwhile, due to a foot injury, Australia will miss the services of pacer Brett Lee for series. Lee suffered the injury in the previous T20 game to when he was hit hard by a shot from Dhoni.
Australia: David Warner, Matthew Wade, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey, David Hussey, Daniel Christian, Ryan Harris, Mitchell Starc, Clint McKay, Xavier Doherty.
India: Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Rahul Sharma, R Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar.
Pitch Report: It is a typical Australian wicket - pretty hard and with a fair amount of grass. It may slow down later on in the evening and there are chances of rain as well as the day goes on.
