Opening Indian batsman Rohit Sharma scored an unbeaten 171 of 163 balls with 13 fours and 7 sixes to help India set a target of 310 for hosts Australia in the first of the five-match One-day International series, at the WACA Ground in Perth.
Earlier, Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first. Rohit was ably supported by Virat Kohli (91) to revive the innings after India lost another opener Shikhar Dhawan (9) very early. The duo put on 207 run partnership to take India to a good score.
Rohit went past the 100 mark off 122 deliveries. His 163-ball 171 is the highest score by a visiting batsman against Australia in Australia, overtaking West Indies great Viv Richards’ unbeaten 153 run knock in 1979 in Melbourne.
Rohit Sharma continued his affinity for Australian bowlers especially in ODI format as he now averages 68.46 against the formidable team in 19 innings. He is the fastest to score 1000 runs against Australia beating legend Sachin Tendulkar’s record.
The 28-year-old right-hand batsman, whose 264 against Sri Lanka remains the highest individual score in the ODI format, is also the only Cricketer with two double centuries in ODI format.
Teams for 1st ODI:
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c and wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Barinder Sran.
Australia: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Aaron Finch, George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade, James Faulkner, Scott Boland, Josh Hazlewood, Joel Paris.
