Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten 171 went in vain as Steve Smith and George Bailey scored centuries of their own to help Australia to a 5-wicket victory in the opener of the 5-match series in Perth.
Electing to bat, Rohit and Virat Kohli (91) had put on a 207-run stand for the second wicket to take India to 309/3. En route his knock of 171*, Rohit broke Viv Richards’ 153* as the highest ODI score against Australia in Australia.
In response, despite losing the openers early, Smith (149) and Bailey (112) put on a 242-run stand to take the hosts closer to victory. Debutant Barinder Sran picked up 3 wickets for India but the Aussies reached 310/5 with 5 wickets and 4 deliveries to spare.
The second match will be held in Brisbane on Tuesday, January 15th.