Australia captain Mitchell Marsh continued his good form on Sunday, scoring 46 not out and leading his side to a seven-wicket win over India in the weather-affected first one-day international at Perth Stadium.
India limped to 136-9 from 26 overs, interrupted four times by rain, leaving Australia with a revised target of 131, which the hosts reached in 21.1 overs.
The sea of blue in the 42,423-strong crowd didn’t have to wait to see Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli after India got down to business.
After retiring from the game’s other formats ahead of the 2027 World Cup, the former captains returned to national duty for the first time since winning the Champions Trophy in March.
Neither looked convincing against Australia’s fast bowlers, with Rohit putting Josh Hazlewood at second on eight and Kohli cutting Mitchell Starc to a diving Cooper Connolly at backward point for a duck.
Newly appointed one-day skipper Shubman Gill (10) tickled seamer Nathan Ellis to wicketkeeper Josh Philippe, leaving India reeling at 37-3 as light drizzle halted play for two hours.
The crowd applauded sarcastically when the covers were removed, and then in earnest when Shreyas Iyer, 11, slammed Hazlewood into the fence. However, the bowler got his revenge two balls later when Philippe took another leg-side catch.
Medium-pacer Mitch Owen and spinner Matthew Kuhnemann kept up the pressure and stopped any momentum that Axar Patel (31) and KL Rahul (38) generated, although Nitish Kumar Reddy provided some excitement with a quick 19 off 11 balls.
In place of Pat Cummins, whose Ash hopes remain uncertain due to a back injury, Marsh sparked Australia’s response by smashing three sixes, continuing impressive form against South Africa and New Zealand.
Philippe, playing his first ODI since 2021 due to the absence of Josh Inglis and Alex Carey, backed his skipper with an aggressive 37 before cutting to Arshdeep Singh in the deep.
Matt Renshaw helped his team home with 21 not out, while Singh, Patel and Washington Sundar claimed one wicket each.
The series moves to Adelaide on Thursday and concludes in Sydney on Saturday.
