Australia convincingly defeated India in a rain-shortened One Day International (ODI) at the Perth Stadium on October 19, 2025, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The match was plagued by multiple rain delays, ultimately reducing the contest to 26 overs per side.
Australia's captain, Mitchell Marsh, won the toss and elected to bowl first, a decision that proved fruitful as their pace attack immediately put India under pressure. Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc wreaked havoc early, dismissing India's top order cheaply. Rohit Sharma, making his return to international cricket after a seven-month absence, was caught in the slips off Hazlewood for just 8 runs. Virat Kohli, also returning after a hiatus, suffered a rare duck, falling victim to Starc. This marked Kohli's first duck in ODIs in Australia. Shubman Gill, the newly appointed captain, also failed to make an impact, getting dismissed for 10. Shreyas Iyer didn't fare much better, departing for 11.
The early wickets left India reeling at 45/4. Rain interruptions further disrupted India's momentum, with the match being reduced to 49, 35, and eventually 26 overs. Axar Patel (31 off 38) and KL Rahul (38 off 31) provided some resistance, but Matthew Kuhnemann and Mitchell Owen kept the scoring in check. A late cameo from debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy, who hit two sixes in the final over, helped India reach a total of 136/9.
Chasing a revised target of 131 under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method, Australia started aggressively. Although Arshdeep Singh removed Travis Head early for 8, Mitchell Marsh and Josh Philippe dominated the Indian bowlers. Marsh remained unbeaten on 46 off 52 balls, anchoring the innings, while Philippe contributed a quickfire 37 off 29 balls. Matthew Renshaw, also making his ODI debut, chipped in with 21* to guide Australia to victory with 4.5 overs to spare. Australia finished on 131/3 in 21.1 overs.
The Australian bowlers set up the victory at the start, and their batters played well to make the chase simple. Hazlewood was particularly impressive, finishing with figures of 7-2-22-2. Mitchell Marsh was named Player of the Match for his solid batting performance.
India's top-order collapse and inability to build partnerships proved costly. The Men in Blue recorded their lowest powerplay score since 2023. While Axar Patel and KL Rahul offered some stability, it wasn't enough to overcome the early damage. This loss marks India's first ODI defeat in 2025 and also the first ODI Shubman Gill lost as the Indian skipper.
The second ODI will be played in Adelaide on October 23. India will need to address their batting woes and come back strongly to level the series.
