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India vice-captain Shreyas Iyer continued to toil against the short ball ploy and Australia mainstay Josh Hazlewood in the first ODI at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Sunday. While Shreyas danced to the whims of the bowlers, Australia's stand-in captain Mitchell Marsh became the eighth Australian to notch 100-plus sixes in ODIs.
After losing the toss and being put to bat, Shreyas arrived at the crease with India's innings dwindling at 25/3. With rain, turning the game into a start-and-stop play, Shreyas laboured for runs, looking rustic while hunting for runs. Hazlewood put him out of his misery with a short-length delivery, targeting his body. Shreyas got cramped up and gloved the ball to wicketkeeper Josh Philippe, punching his return ticket on a scratchy 11(24). Hazlewood has been Shreyas's Achilles heel in ODIs throughout their past battles. In seven innings, Shreyas has faced 57 deliveries from Hazlewood, churned 55 runs at an underwhelming average of 18.33, while losing his wicket on three occasions. Across all formats, this is the seventh time in 13 innings Hazlewood claimed Shreyas' wicket. Shreyas' failure was a mere reflection of how India's top-order fared in the seaming conditions of Perth. With KL Rahul (38) and Nitish Kumar Reddy's (19*) late fireworks, India were propelled to 136/9. However, with DLS in play, the revised target for Australia was set at 131. In response, Marsh flaunted his power-hitting muscle and pulled Arshdeep Singh's short-length delivery for a towering maximum. For his second, he danced down the ground and thrashed the ball over deep cover off Mohammed Siraj. For his third, he slapped the ball over deep cover for a six off Harshit Rana, taking his six-hitting tally in ODIs to 102. Marsh is the eighth Australian to cross 100 sixes in ODIs after Ricky Ponting (159), Glenn Maxwell (155), Adam Gilchrist (148), Shane Watson (131), David Warner (130), Aaron Finch (129) and Andrew Symonds (102). (ANI)
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