Sydney, Jan 12 (IANS): Opener Rohit Sharma's valiant century went in vain as India lost the opening One-day International to Australia by 34 runs at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) here on Saturday.
Chasing a healthy 289, Rohit anchored India's innings with a breezy 129-ball 133, laced with 10 fours and six sixes to overcome a sloppy start before pacer Jhye Richardson's 4/26 brought the hosts back to restrict the visitors to 254/9 at the end of 50 overs.
Former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (51) also came up with a defiant half century and shared a 137-run fourth wicket stand with Rohit but eventually failed to take the men-in-blue over the line.
Brief Scores: Australia 288/5 (Peter Handscomb 73, Usman Khawaja 59, Shaun Marsh 54; Kuldeep Yadav 2/54, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/66) beat India 254/9 (Rohit Sharma 133, Mahendra Singh Dhoni 51; Jhye Richardson 4/26, Jason Behrendorff 2/39) by 34 runs.