Pandya, Dhoni help ‘Men in Blue’ go 1-0 up in Chennai

TIL Desk Sports/ The ‘Men in Blue’ started the five match ODI series against Australia on a winning note with a 26-run victory over the visitors by the DLS method at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday. The first match of the series started off with a game that was nearly a mix of both formats, ODIs and Twenty20.

The Virat Kohli led Indian side got the opportunity to bat out its 50 overs but was in danger of not doing so, having been reduced to 87 for 5 by Nathan Coulter-Nile taking 3 wickets in quick succession. From there on, contrasting half-centuries from Hardik Pandya and Mahendra Singh Dhoni took the team to a fighting total of 281 for the loss of 7 wickets.

However intermittent showers during the break played spoilsport as Australia were set a revised target of 164 off 21 overs via Duckworth-Lewis method. The visitors seemed caught between the two formats in its chase and could only get to 137 for 9 at the end of the game.