Australia captain Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to bat in the first One-Day International against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Saturday.
Rohit Sharma hit his 22nd to keep the Indian hopes alive. He reached the mark with a double off the fifth ball of 40th over, bowled by Richardson. This was his seventh ton against Australia.
Chasing a 289-run target, India lost three quick wickets, but Rohit and Mahendra Singh Dhoni resurrected the innings with a 137-run stand for the fourth wicket. Dhoni made a patient half-century, 51 off 96 balls, before becoming debutant Jason Behrendorff's second wicket.
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India lost the wickets of Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and Ambati Rayudu inside the fourth over. India were 4/3 at the end of the fourth over with Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni unbeaten.
Behrendorff took the wicket of Dhawan, while Jhye Richardson removed Kohli and Rayudu.
Earlier, the hosts rode on half-centuries from Usman Khawaja (59), Shaun Marsh (54) and Pete Handscomb (73) to post a fighting total of 188/5. Marcus Stoinis contributed with 47.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kuldeep Yadav took two wickets each, while Ravindra Jadeja got a scalp.
Brief Scores:
Australia : 288 for 5 in 50 overs. (P Handscomb 73, U Khawaja 59, S Marsh 54; K Yadav 2/54, B Kumar 2/66, R Jadeja 1/48).
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India opted for the two spinners with chinaman Kuldeep Yadav and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who is coming back in the side, along with three pacers.
Hit hard by an unexpected controversy after the high of the Test triumph, India will look to fine-tune their World Cup preparations in the three-match ODI series against an under-fire Australia.
Under-fire players Hardik Pandya and K L Rahul were sent back home on the first available flight from Australia as the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI ) suspended them on the eve of the match for their outrage-evoking comments on women.
Earlier, captain Virat Kohli expressed his disapproval of the comments made by the two on a TV show.
"Both Pandya and Rahul have been suspended pending an inquiry," the Committee of Administrators (CoA) chairman Vinod Rai told PTI.
For Australia, left-arm pacer Jason Behrendorff will be making his ODI debut, while right-arm pacer Peter Siddle is making a return in 50-over cricket since November 2010.
India won the preceding four-match Test series 2-1.
Teams:
India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Khaleel Ahmed.
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Alex Carey (wk), Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Nathan Lyon, Peter Siddle, Jhye Richardson and Jason Behrendorff.
