IND vs AUS: Why is Australia's target 131 despite India scoring 136/9 in 1st ODI? Explained

India had a poor outing with the bat in the first IND vs AUS ODI.

The Australian Cricket Team and the Indian Cricket Team are locking horns with each other in first game of the three-match ODI series. The series opener between the teams is taking place at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Sunday, October 19.

In what has been a frustrating day with a lot of stoppages due to rain, India were asked to bat on. They didn’t have the kind of outing they would have wanted as they kept losing wickets in quick successions, and also rain breaks didn’t help. 

The Indian top-order failed drastically with Shubman Gill (10), Rohit Sharma (8) and Virat Kohli (0) getting out early. Shreyas Iyer (11) soon followed them as India were left reeling at 45/4 inside 14 overs. 

Axar Patel (31), who was promoted up the order played a vital hand and he along with KL Rahul (38) brought their team back in the game. The duo added 39 runs together but barring them no one really looked threatening with the bat. 

In the end, debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy (19*) hit some lusty blows in the end that powered India to a total of 136. For Australia, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Owen and Matthew Kuhnemann bagged two wickets each. 

IND vs AUS: Why is Australia’s target 131 despite India scoring 136/9 in 1st ODI? Explained

As India posted 136 runs on the board, the target was revised and Australia were set a target of 131. This caused a lot of confusion among the many cricket lovers, who have been wondering why Australia are chasing a few runs less than what India posted. 

However, the reason behind that has finally been revealed. The target of 131 for Australia is due to the DLS method. Since the game was reduced to 26 overs per side due to rain, the DLS calculations came into effect and hence the target was revised. Had India lost lesser number of wickets, the target would’ve been comparatively higher.

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