India and Australia played their maiden one-day international match, and the hosts got off to a fast start, ruffling the Australian batting order and eventually bowling them out for just 188. Mohammad Siraj started the caravan by dismissing Travis Head in the first ball of the second over, giving India their first wicket. An attempt to bowl “outside the off-stump” was edged by Head, and the ball eventually dropped in and struck the stumps. As soon as the first wicket fell, Australia was quickly down to 5/1.
It was then followed by a beautiful celebration led by Siraj and a cheery Virat Kohli, who referred to football legend Cristiano Ronaldo as they mimicked the Portuguese player’s signature celebration technique. While Siraj was quick to perform Ronaldo’s trademark ‘Siu’, Virat Kohli took to his ‘Nap’ celebration to mark the early fall of the wicket.
A video of this celebration was shared by the BCCI on its official Twitter handle which garnered immense traction as soon as it was put on the site. Australia experienced a severe setback in the first innings because the majority of their batters were unable to step up and save the team as it was losing ground rapidly. The Australian batting immediately collapsed with the loss of the second wicket as they continued to lose wickets at regular intervals.
Mitchell Marsh, the team’s lone supporter, scored 81 runs out of a possible 188 and did so with a remarkable strike rate of 124.62. Prior to being caught by Mohammad Siraj off Ravindra Jadeja in the 20th over, he had scored 65 runs off 65 balls, including 10 fours and five sixes.
Apart from Marsh, Jos Inglis scored 26 while skipper Steve Smith scored the third-highest 22 in 30 balls. For India, Mohammad Shami and Mohammad Siraj took three wickets each whereas Ravindra Jadeja picked two scalps.
