WATCH: Mitchell Starc stuns Virat Kohli for duck in ODI series opener

PERTH: Australia’s Mitchell Starc produced a stunning delivery to dismiss Virat Kohli for a duck in the first ODI against India at Optus Stadium, marking the Indian star’s first-ever ODI duck on Australian soil.

Batting first, India found themselves under pressure early as skipper Rohit Sharma departed for 8 off 14 balls, caught behind off Josh Hazlewood with the score at 13-1 in the fourth over. 

Kohli walked in at No. 3 but lasted only eight deliveries before edging Starc to Cooper Connolly at backward point.

With this wicket, Starc became only the second bowler after England’s James Anderson to dismiss Kohli for a duck twice in international cricket.

The slide continued for India as debutant ODI captain Shubman Gill managed just 10 off 18 balls before being dismissed by Nathan Ellis. 

Vice-captain Shreyas Iyer also fell cheaply, giving Hazlewood his second breakthrough as India stumbled to 45-4 in 13.2 overs.

At the time of the rain interruption, India were struggling at 52-4 in 16.4 overs, with Axar Patel and wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul holding the fort.

Historically, India and Australia have met 152 times in ODIs. Australia have the upper hand with 84 wins, while India have claimed 58 victories. Ten matches have ended without a result.

Playing XIs:

India: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh.

Australia: Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (c), Matthew Short, Josh Philippe (wk), Matt Renshaw, Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhnemann and Josh Hazlewood.