Australia storm past India as returning Rohit, Kohli fail

PERTH, Australia :Australia's stand-in captain Mitchell Marsh continued his fine run of form on Sunday, scoring 46 not out and leading his side to a seven-wicket triumph over India in the weather-affected first one-day international at Perth Stadium.

India limped to 136-9 from 26 overs, interrupted four times by rain, setting Australia a revised target of 131 which the hosts reached in 21.1 overs.

The sea of blue in the 42,423-strong crowd did not have to wait long to see Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli after India were put into bat.

Having retired from the game's other formats with an eye on the 2027 World Cup, the former captains made their return to national duty for the first time since winning the Champions Trophy in March.

Neither looked convincing against Australia's pace bowlers, with Rohit edging Josh Hazlewood to second slip on eight and Kohli cutting Mitchell Starc to a diving Cooper Connolly at backward point for a duck.

"All of their batters are world class and legends of the game," said spinner Matthew Kuhnemann, who picked up 2-26. "In one-day cricket, especially, to get wickets up front makes a massive difference."

CAPTAIN GILL OUT FOR 10

New one-day skipper Shubman Gill (10) tickled seamer Nathan Ellis to wicketkeeper Josh Philippe, leaving India reeling at 37-3 when light drizzle halted play for two hours.

The crowd applauded sarcastically when the covers were removed, then in earnest when Shreyas Iyer (11) slashed Hazlewood to the fence. The bowler got his revenge in his next over, however, as Philippe took another leg-side catch.

Kuhnemann and medium-pacer Mitch Owen kept up the pressure and halted any momentum Axar Patel (31) and KL Rahul (38) generated, although Nitish Kumar Reddy brought some excitement with a