Pair stays calm to seal 5-wkt win on day of batting collapses; Shami stars with ball
MUMBAI: Fortunes can change in a matter of weeks. Just last month, KL Rahul was the subject of ridicule on social media, a plethora of memes making fun of him for being a part of India's Test team despite being in poor form.
Hopefully, when he wakes up on Saturday morning after having cracked a match-winning 75 not out (91 balls, 7x4, 1x6) to help India record a five-wicket victory in the opening ODI at a packed Wankhede Stadium, Rahul will find the world to be a more pleasant place.
Walking in with his team in strife at 16/3 in 5 overs while chasing 189, and Mitchell Starc (3-49) breathing fire on a wicket which was providing some serious help to the faster bowlers, the 30-year-old, dropped from the Test XI and stripped of vice-captaincy, had an acid test awaiting him in the middle.
Things became worse when the score became 39/4 in the 11th over as Shubman Gill (20) too succumbed to the ace left-arm pacer, caught by Marnus Labuschagne at backward point. With stand-in-skipper Hardik Pandya (25 off 31 balls), Rahul put on 44 in 55 balls for the fifth wicket to begin a repair job. When Pandya was caught at deep backward square leg off a bouncer by Marcus Stoinis, India were 83/5 in the 20th over and the Aussies looked dangerously close to getting into India's tail.
However, in Ravindra Jadeja (45 not out, 69b, 5x4), Rahul found the perfect ally to script his comeback story. The duo put together an unbeaten 108-run stand for the sixth wicket in 131 balls which shaped India's five-wicket win with 59 balls to spare. Playing his first ODI in eight months, Jadeja proved his worth to Team India in any format, taking 2/46 in nine overs with the ball earlier, besides pulling off a signature blinder at backward point to send back Marnus Labuschagne off Kuldeep Yadav.
Standing in the middle like a rock amidst the ruins after India lost Ishan Kishan (3, trapped lbw off a sharp in-coming ball by Stoinis), Virat Kohli (4, lbw while trying to flick Starc), Suryakumar Yadav (0, lbw as a Starc ball jagged back in) on a pitch with a fair bit of grass cover, Rahul was like a monk, staying calm while scoring 40 runs off his first 60 balls.
He then changed gears to thrash 35 off the next 31 balls he faced. A few pleasant drives later, he unleashed a terrific slog swept six off leggie Adam Zampa to signal that he would not relent till he took India home. It was his 13th ODI fifty, and perhaps his most valuable till date. While he has suffered from poor form in Tests and has been criticised for his slow run rate in T20Is, the batsman has been successful in the ODIs at No 5.
What adds to his case to be almost finalised as India's wicketkeeper-batsman for the ODI World Cup later this year and the World Test Championship final in June is his improving wicketkeeping skills. On Friday, he did well to save a couple of wides down the leg-side and dived superbly to catch Steve Smith off Pandya.
1/10:1st ODI: Shami, KL Rahul fire India to victory against Australia
2/10:India beat Australia by five wickets
<p>Mohammed Shami's bowling figures of 3-17 and an unbeaten 75 by KL Rahul helped India beat Australia by five wickets in the first one-day international on Friday.<br /></p>PTI
3/10:Australia bowled out for 188
<p>Australia were bowled out for 188 in 35.4 overs after a dramatic collapse following opener Mitchell Marsh's 65-ball 81 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.<br /></p>Getty Images
4/10:Unbeaten 108-run stand between Rahul and Jadeja
<p>In a tricky chase, India were in trouble at 39-4 before Rahul stayed calm and put on key partnerships including an unbeaten 108-run stand with Ravindra Jadeja, who made 45, to achieve victory in 39.5 overs.<br /></p>AFP
5/10:Shami-Siraj take three wickets a piece
<p>Bowlers ruled in the ODI opener with Shami and Mohammed Siraj taking three wickets each to make Australia slide from a strong 129-2 after being invited to bat first.<br /></p>
6/10:Australia falter after Marsh's departure
<p>The Australian innings turned on its head after Marsh, who is playing as a specialist batsman after recovering from an ankle injury, departed in the 20th over.<br /><br /></p>AP
7/10:Marsh-Smith put on 72 runs for the second wicket
<p>He put on 72 runs for the second wicket with skipper Steve Smith and smashed 10 fours and five sixes to take the wind out of the Indian bowlers who hit back with wickets.<br /></p>Getty Images
8/10:Jadeja gets rid of Marsh
<p>Marsh reached his fifty with a boundary and another four got Australia past 100 before he fell to Jadeja in his attempt to go after the left-arm spinner and got caught.<br /></p>PTI
9/10:Shami cleans up Inglis
<p>Josh Inglis, who donned the wicket-keeping gloves after Alex Carey was ruled out sick, looked good in his knock of 26 before being bowled by Shami.<br /></p>PTI
10/10:Shami sends back Green, Stoinis in quick time
<p>Shami then sent back Cameron Green (12) and Marcus Stoinis (5) to break the back of the opposition batting.<br /><br /></p>Earlier, pounded in the first 20 overs of the innings by a rampaging Mitchell Marsh (81; 65b, 10x4, 5x6), India staged a stunning, incredible comeback to take Australia's last 8 wickets for just 59 runs in 96 balls through a magnificent performance by pacers Mohammed Shami (3-17 in 6 overs) and Mohammed Siraj (3-29 in 5.4 overs) and left-arm spinner Jadeja.
The 'Shami Show,' in particular, was a masterclass of seam and swing bowling as he destroyed Australia's lower-middle order by scalping three wickets in his second spell. The leader of India's pace pack in the absence of the injured Jasprit Bumrah, Shami started damaging Australia's innings in the 28th over with a trademark dismissal, forcing Australia's Josh Inglis (26, 27b, 1x4, 1x6) to chop a ball outside the off stump onto his stumps.
In his next over, he unleashed a peach of a delivery to uproot Cameron Green's (12) off stump. He took his third wicket when Stoinis (5) edged him to first slip where Gill, having dropped a couple of chances earlier, pouched a beauty.
However, Marsh, coming off a three-month lay-off after an ankle keyhole surgery, went after the Indian bowlers. He smashed Siraj for three fours in the fourth over, and then tonked Shardul Thakur, Hardik Pandya and Jadeja for sixes too.
Stand-in-captain Steve Smith (22 off 30 balls) seemed to be giving Marsh good company before he went to chase a ball wide of off stump. He only managed to edge Pandya behind the stumps.
