It was a hard-fought affair in the first ODI between India and Australia at Hyderabad with the hosts sailing across the finish line with a six-wicket win.

It was Kedar Jadhav who turned out to be the man of the moment for India with the 33-year-old shining with both ball and bat.

After picking up the important wicket of Marcus Stoinis with the ball, Jadhav followed it up a match-winning 81 in a difficult chase of 237.

Here, we take a closer look at his sensational display at Hyderabad.

BOWLING STATISTICS

OVERS: 7

RUNS CONCEDED: 31

WICKETS: 1

ECONOMY-RATE: 4.42

BATTING STATISTICS

RUNS: 81

BALLS FACED: 87

BOUNDARIES: 9

SIXES: 1

STRIKE-RATE: 93.10

30-SECOND REPORT

With Usman Khawaja and Marcus Stoinis putting on a fine stand for Australia second wicket, Jadhav showed the value of his ‘golden arm’ with his part-time off-spin giving India a desperately needed breakthrough.

The part-time spinner was hard to get away on a slow surface with tricky bounce but his most important contribution came with the bat.

India’s top-order had been rocked early in a difficult chase and Jadhav arrived at the crease with the hosts tottering at 99-4.

The right-hander formed a terrific partnership with MS Dhoni in testing circumstances and struck an invaluable unbeaten half-century to take India across the finish line.

GOT RIGHT

While he did his job with the ball, it wasn’t an easy situation for Jadhav to walk into bat during India’s innings. With the double-paced nature of the pitch making run-scoring difficult, Jadhav was content to bide his time in the middle-overs by rotating the strike and absorbing the pressure.

Just when the big hits were needed with the asking-rate climbing above six, Jadhav broke the shackles with a flurry of boundaries in the death overs. His sensational hitting at the death relieved some of the scoring pressure from Dhoni’s shoulders too.

It was a masterfully constructed innings from Jadhav.

GOT WRONG

There was nothing to fault at all in Jadhav’s performance on the day with the all-rounder delivering in both departments. Very few batsmen, if any, managed to look comfortable on the tricky Hyderabad pitch but Jadhav thrived on it.

Everything that Jadhav touched in the first ODI turned to gold with even his wicket of Stoinis coming off probably the worst delivery he bowled in the match.

VERDICT – 9.5/10

With the World Cup just a couple of months away, Kedar Jadhav might have just sealed his spot in the playing XI. The middle-order batsman has been instrumental in many victories in recent months and his value to the squad is increasing with each passing game.

With his bowling becoming a crucial asset for Kohli and his finishing prowess growing in recent months, Jadhav’s role in squad has become key. On Saturday, his credentials were tested to the hilt in a pressure-cooker situation and he passed with flying colours, even overshadowing the veteran Dhoni in the finishing department.