No casualties were reported and employees were sent home for the day
asia4 hours ago
MS Dhoni, one of the greatest ODI batsmen of all time, once again brought all his experience and class to the fore on Sunday when Australia had reduced India to 5/87 in just 21.3 overs.
It was the first match of the five-game ODI series between the two big rivals in international cricket and the Steve Smith-led Australian team clearly had an early advantage.
The visitors had reasons to feel confident about their game after having sent five Indian top-order batsmen, including their best player and captain Virat Kohli, back to the pavilion even before the 25th over of the innings.
Of course, India still had the battle-hardened veteran Dhoni in the middle and a young and fearless Hardik Pandya who hits sixes for fun.
Pandya (83, 66 balls, 5 fours and 5 sixes), the 23-year-old Baroda all-rounder, launched a stunning counter-attack on the Australian bowlers as he shared a 118-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Dhoni.
It was the kind of aggressive batting by Pandya that brought back memories of a young Dhoni when he announced his arrival in international cricket with a swashbuckling 148 against Pakistan in a one-day match in 2005.
Hardik Pandya and MS Dhoni shared 118 runs for the sixth wicket in the first one-dayer against Australia on Sunday. Pandya hit five sixes while Dhoni hit two
But 12 years later in Chennai on Sunday, Dhoni (79, 88 balls, 4 fours, 2 sixes) was happy to play the second fiddle, waiting for the bad balls to play his shots. It was his cultured performance that eventually helped India post the challenging total 281/7 in 50 overs.
Their bowlers then restricted Smith's team after Australia had got a revised target due to rain.
Pandya, of course, was the man of the match not only for his 66-ball 83, but also for his two wickets, including the big one of rival captain Smith.
But not even the harshest critic of the 36-year-old Dhoni will not deny the role played by the former India captain in helping the team fight back from very difficult position.
Dhoni also hit two sixes in his marvellous innings on Sunday.
For the record, Dhoni is only the fifth batsman in the history of the one-day game to have hit 200 or more sixes.
Pakistan's Shahid Afridi (351), Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya (270), West Indian Chris Gayle (238) have got more ODI sixes than Dhoni (212).
So who are in the top 10 list of the most six-hitters in one-day.
We have brought you the exclusive list below.
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