Dhoni does it again as India claim first ODI

India brushed off the disappointment of the Twenty20 series defeat with a composed six-wicket win in the first one-day international in Hyderabad on Saturday.

Led by MS Dhoni's 59 not out, India chased down the target of 237 with 10 balls to spare to spoil Aaron Finch's 100th ODI appearance and secure a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Dhoni entered the pursuit at 3-95 which quickly became 4-99 after fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile (2-46) and Adam Zampa (2-49) each picked up two wickets, but the 339-game veteran suppressed Australia's surge before spearheading the fightback, just like he did twice in the Gillette ODI series in Australia in January.

Dhoni and allrounder Kedar Jadhav (81 not out from 87) added an unbroken 141 for the fifth wicket, a stand the tourists tried everything to break to no avail as the hosts proved too strong in drawing first blood.

Image Id: 4264F07D90CA4ABA8DC1AF8F49836F21 Image Caption: Kedar Jadhav on the attack // Getty

The 37-year-old battled cramp in the closing stages and now has four consecutive ODI half-centuries against Australia, who have won just four of their past 25 one-day internationals.

Australia will single out their batting performance as where the match was lost, mustering 7-236 after Finch won the toss and elected to bat. 

Finch's struggles continued at the top of the order, out for a third ball duck to extend his lean patch without a half-century in limited-overs internationals to 20 innings.

Coach Justin Langer said Australia will be patient with their skipper, but the right-hander is averaging 13.12 in his last eight ODI innings since his 100 against England last June.

What will frustrate the Australians the most will be how five of their top six got starts without cashing in. Usman Khawaja's 50 was the visitors' top score, while Glenn Maxwell (40), Marcus Stoinis (37), debutant Ashton Turner (21) and Peter Handscomb (19) all fell having spent at least half-an-hour at the crease.

Of the top six, Finch and Maxwell got particularly good deliveries while a mixture of shot selection and shot execution caused the downfall for the remaining quartet.

A late rearguard by Alex Carey (36 from 37 balls) and Coulter-Nile (28 from 27) gave Australia something to bowl at, and on another day it might have been enough.

Image Id: C27F7E3B42234EDBBE1F3F1659C2351A Image Caption: Peter Handscomb wasn't able to make the most of his start / Getty

Left-arm quick Jason Behrendorff (0-46) repeatedly beat the outside edge of India opener Rohit Sharma (37) and extracted a leading-edge from Virat Kohli (44) on nought that safely lobbed over the head of Finch at mid-off.

Coutler-Nile and Pat Cummins (0-46) both had balls awkwardly rear off a length but sadly for Finch and his charges those difficult deliveries did not produce wickets.

It appeared as though the upset was on when Coulter-Nile removed opener Shikhar Dhawan with his first delivery for a golden duck before India lost 3-19, a mini collapse sparked by Zampa's wicket of Kohli.

Originally given not out on the field, Zampa beat the inside edge of Kohli's bat with the straighter ball that hit flush on his front pad and was deemed to be hitting the stumps after Finch reviewed.

Coulter-Nile then had Sharma caught at mid-off and when Zampa's beautifully bowled leg-break had Ambati Rayudu nicking off for 13, the match was evenly poised.

But the steady hand of Dhoni and the power of Jadhav, who hit nine fours and a six in his innings, proved too much for the hosts to overcome.

With five matches in 11 days there is no rest for the wicked this series, which moves to Nagpur for Tuesday's second ODI.

India XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Vijay Shankar, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.

Australia XI: Aaron Finch (c), Usman Khawaja, Marcus Stoinis, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Turner, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff, Adam Zampa

Qantas Tour of India

First T20: Australia won by three wickets

Second T20: Australia won by seven wickets

First ODI: India won by six wickets

Second ODI: March 5, Nagpur

Third ODI: March 8, Ranchi

Fourth ODI: March 10, Mohali

Fifth ODI: March 13, Delhi