The Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bat first. The visitors were not affected by the toss result as they were looking to field first.
The Indian team opened with the veteran pair of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, who recently recovered from COVID-19 and was included in the playing eleven. Things were looking good in the first few overs of the game but the tide changed in the 3rd over of the match by Alzzari Joseph in which he sent the Indian skipper back to the dressing room on a score of just 13 runs and the next ball, he took care of Virat Kohli and departed him on a duck.
Shreyas Iyer was steadily building up a partnership with Dhawan which was put to a stop by Odean Smith in the 9th over of the game. In came to bat at number four, his former Delhi Capitals teammate Rishabh Pant. Both looked solid from the start of the innings and were playing their natural game and kept the scoreboard ticking.
The duo was making sure that they made life difficult for the bowlers and kept rotating the strike and hit boundaries at regular intervals. Shreyas Iyer scored his 9th ODI fifty in the 27th over which was followed by the half-century (5th ODI fifty) of Rishabh Pant in the 29th over.
The fourth-wicket partnership came to an end by Hayden Walsh who came into the side in place of Akeal Hosein by tacking the priced wicket of Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.
