IND VS AUS - 1st ODI, Australia tour of India, 2017

That brings an end to our coverage of the first game of the series. The action-starved Chennai crowd were treated with a nicely fought match with their (CSK's) captain Dhoni contributing with the bat. But the hero of the day was undoubtedly the Gujarati. No I'm not talking about the one who celebrated his birthday today. It's Hardik Pandya. He continues to get better with each game. Next, these two teams travel to Kolkata and we can expect the World Champions to come back harder. Don't forget to join us. I, Abhinand Raghavendran, on behalf of Abhishek Chaudhary, Pradeep, Pratyush Sinha, Sriram, Siva and Shashikant, bid goodbye!

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Some numbers worth revisiting, courtesy Deepu Narayanan
~ This is Australia's first loss in five ODIs at Chepauk
~ 194 runs scored by India's #6, #7 and #8 is the second most by them in an ODI innings after 198 against Zimbabwe in Turnbridge Wells in 1983
~ Only once had India posted a higher total after being five down for less than 100. 87/5 to 288/6 vs Zim, Colombo(RPS), 2002
~ Today was the third time Hardik Pandya hit sixes off three consecutive balls in ODIs: off Imad Wasim, CT17; off Shadab Khan, CT17; off Adam Zampa, today

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Hardik Pandya, Man of the Match: It was a good day for me. Couple of catches would have helped. It feels pretty good. I don't think anything has changed. I'm the same Hardik, perhaps a bit calmer than last year. I just wanted to play my game. I knew what he (Zampa) was going to bowl. We were planning and eventually I targeted one over. I liked it and eventually it helped. As a cricketer, it is important to have the right form. I am glad I am doing well in the batting department and bowling department. I have a wonderful bunch of people around me. I'd like to thank my coach.

Kohli: Quite different from the first innings to the second. We spoke at the toss to post a good score. We didn't have the ideal start. This is a pleasing win because we were in a tough situation. MS and Kedar played well early, Hardik's innings was fantastic. And MS finished off the way he does. It's a good sign for us that our lower order batting is firing. Today was an example, Sri Lanka was an example, how good they can be. The bowlers were outstanding as well. It's just a matter of giving players the confidence. He (Hardik) believes in himself. That is the key in international cricket. Hardik's innings was the game-changer. He is smart with the ball as well. Great performance from them (spinners) today. 5-65 (sic) in nine overs is outstanding. Chahal has always been brave ever since I have seen him. Hats off to them. Bhuvi and Bumrah were clinical - our bank bowlers. I would like to give a lot of credit to those young bowlers. The game was shortened. These are the best four Indian bowlers in the IPL. They are very consistent and their economy is low. We couldn't have had a better combination. We were quite relaxed at the break.

Smith: It was interesting. We bowled very well with the new ball, but we let the Indians off. MS and Hardik played really well - probably the match-winning partnership. We couldn't capitalize on the start. The new ball was stopping a bit and some were skidding on. It was quite difficult to face. We lost too many wickets in the middle. We can't control the weather. You can only play to whatever happens in the middle. No complaints. Tonight we weren't good enough and we were outplayed by India. I thought they (our fast bowlers) bowled very well, especially with the new ball. Hopefully they can back up in couple of days time. It worked with the new ball today. It was swinging early. We got ourselves in a good position. We probably went away from our game plans a little bit too early and we weren't able to capitalize on what was a good start.

Harsha Bhogle: Got to hand it to Chennai for producing an excellent track. There was enough for the bowlers and so a good contest between bat and ball.

Chahal: When I saw Kuldeep, I realized there was a bit of turn. And when I spoke with Kohli even he asked me to pitch up and look for the turn. On these kind of wickets, you cannot afford to pitch short. There was a bit of intuition to go wide against Wade. Wicket was a bit helpful. When I came to bowl, I had the confidence that there was something in this wicket. It's a great feeling to wear the Indian jersey. I am grateful for all the support that I get from this team.

India, earlier in the day, were rattled by Nathan Coulter-Nile and the hosts were reduced to 87-5 in the 22nd over. That's when the crowd-favourite Mahendra Singh Dhoni joined hands with Hardik Pandya. The duo took their time to settle. Pandya shifted gears and went berserk. He missed out on his 100 by 17 runs. Then Dhoni took the initiative to ensure an above-par score with a knock of 79. Stay tuned for presentations.

Varsha Mudgal says: "This match has to have two Man of the Matches, one for each inning., Pandya and Chahal are my choices"

22:14 Local Time, 16:44 GMT, 22:14 IST: Good performance from the Indians. These reduced games always help the team chasing. That wasn't the case today. Well, Australia's revised target was 164 in 21 overs. The visitors never got going in their chase. The Gujarati-duo of Hardik Pandya and Bumrah set the tone early in the innings with the new ball. When three of your top four fall for single digit scores, it'll always be a tough ask for the lower-middle order batsmen. Glenn Maxwell came out all guns blazing and he took special liking to Kuldeep Yadav hitting three successive sixes. However, he was soon scalped by Chahal, who finished with impressive figures: 5-0-30-3. Faulkner in the end tried his best with the bat, but it was too big a task for the Australian all-rounder.

Australia's last 11 ODIs away from home: L L L L L L L NR NR L L

Bumrah to Zampa, 1 run, that's it! India win by 26 runs and go 1-0 up in the 5-match series. Bumrah finishes with a yorker and all Zampa can do is squeeze it away towards short fine leg off the inside part of the bat

Bumrah to Faulkner, 1 run, fuller length delivery on off, Faulkner chips it over the bowler's head. A single to long-off

Bumrah to Zampa, 3 runs, elevates a slower ball on a good length over cover. Jadhav at sweeper cover dives forward, but the ball fell in front of him

Bumrah to Faulkner, 1 run, very full, drilled to long-on and Faulkner's call was for two. Zampa didn't look at his partner and came charging back for the second. He is halfway down and later sees his partner denying the second. The throw was at the bowler's end, deflected off Faulkner's hips, and that allowed Zampa to go back

Bumrah to Faulkner, wide, errs in line way outside off

Bumrah to Faulkner, no run, edged and taken? Dhoni isn't sure if he has caught it clean. The soft signal is OUT to the TV umpire. Fair delivery. "He has caught it, but the ball has touched the grass," says Illingworth. NOT OUT! It was a length ball way outside off, Faulkner goes for the booming drive over covers and gets a thin outside edge that almost died down as it approached the keeper. Dhoni dives forward and completed the catch, but as he finished his action, the ball made contact with the grass

Bumrah to Faulkner, no run, misses the yorker by a few inches, flicked to deep mid-wicket and the Faulkner decides not to take a run. Strange!

Bumrah will bowl the final over. 34 runs needed! Almost next to impossible.

Bhuvneshwar to Zampa, no run, excellent over from Bhuvi. Just 5 off it and a wicket. Zampa moves slightly leg-side and punches a short of length delivery straight to extra cover