Perth

Mitchell Marsh powered Australia to ODI victory against India as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli failed in their return to international cricket.

Australia’s stand-in captain Mitchell Marsh continued his fine run of form on Sunday, scoring 46 not out and leading his side to a seven-wicket triumph over India in the weather-affected first one-day international (ODI) at Perth Stadium.

India limped to 136-9 from 26 overs, interrupted four times by rain, setting Australia a revised target of 131 which the hosts reached in 21.1 overs.

The sea of blue in the 42,423-strong crowd did not have to wait long to see Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli after India were put into bat.

Having retired from the game’s other formats with an eye on the 2027 World Cup, the former captains made their return to national duty for the first time since winning the Champions Trophy in March.

Neither looked convincing against Australia’s pace bowlers, with Rohit edging Josh Hazlewood to second slip on eight and Kohli cutting Mitchell Starc to a diving Cooper Connolly at backward point for a duck.

“All of their batters are world-class and legends of the game,” said spinner Matthew Kuhnemann, who picked up 2-26. “In one-day cricket, especially, to get wickets up front makes a massive difference.”

India captain Gill out cheaply

New one-day skipper Shubman Gill was dismissed for 10 when he tickled seamer Nathan Ellis to wicketkeeper Josh Philippe, leaving India reeling at 37-3 when light drizzle halted play for two hours.

The crowd applauded sarcastically when the covers were removed, then in earnest when Shreyas Iyer (11) slashed Hazlewood to the fence. The bowler got his revenge in his next over, however, as Philippe took another leg-side catch.

Kuhnemann and medium-pacer Mitch Owen kept up the pressure and halted any momentum Axar Patel (31) and KL Rahul (38) generated, although Nitish Kumar Reddy brought some excitement with a rapid 19 off 11 balls.

Deputising for Pat Cummins, whose Ashes hopes remain uncertain due to a back injury, man-of-the-match Marsh kick-started Australia’s reply by bludgeoning three sixes, carrying over impressive form against South Africa and New Zealand.

Philippe, playing his first ODI since 2021 due to the absence of Josh Inglis and Alex Carey, supported his skipper with an aggressive 37 before holing out to Arshdeep Singh in the deep.

Matt Renshaw helped his team home with 21 not out, while Arshdeep, Axar and Washington Sundar claimed one wicket apiece.

“We knew we didn’t have that many runs, but we just wanted to express ourselves,” Arshdeep said.

The series moves to Adelaide on Thursday before concluding in Sydney on Saturday.

Australia remain hopeful that captain Pat Cummins will be fit for the first Ashes Test against England in November but coach Andrew McDonald says it is getting “tight”.

The 32-year-old pace bowler has not played since suffering a back injury against the West Indies in July. Australian media reported on Wednesday that he will miss the first Test in Perth on 21 November and is doubtful for the whole series.

On Friday McDonald said there was “a lot more positivity” surrounding the skipper’s chances of playing in the opening Test but he would need at least “four, four-and-a-half weeks” of bowling practice to condition his body for the rigours of Ashes cricket. The first Test is six weeks away.

“The reality is, we’re starting to get tight in terms of the times,” McDonald said.

“We’re still optimistic, hopeful, but this time next week, I think we’ll be in a position to get a better gauge on where he’s at.”

McDonald said he would weigh up whether Cummins could be included in the side even if he was a “little bit underdone”.

Cummins has taken 309 Test wickets at an average of 22.10 runs per dismissal.

He is even more formidable in Australia, taking 177 wickets at 19.92, while he has also taken 91 wickets against England in 19 matches.

England vice-captain Harry Brook said it would be a “bonus” if Cummins was to miss out but warned that they could not take any replacement lightly.

“Pat Cummins is a phenomenal bowler and has been for so many years now,” said Brook on BBC Radio 5 Live.

“He’s got incredible skill at high pace and if he’s not there it’s a bonus for us.

“But they have got lots of amazing bowlers so I’m sure they’ll draft someone in who is very skillful. We can’t take anyone lightly.”

Carlos Ulberg dropped Dominick Reyes in the opening round for his ninth straight win at UFC Fight Night in Australia.

New Zealand’s Carlos Ulberg made short work of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight title challenger Dominick Reyes on Saturday night with an effortless first-round stoppage at 4:27 at UFC Fight Night in Perth, Australia.

Ulberg (13-1 MMA) kept his messaging simple following his ninth consecutive UFC win, confirming his attendance for next Saturday’s UFC 320 title fight rematch in Las Vegas between Russian Magomed Ankalaev (21-1, 1 NC, or no contest) and ex-light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira (12-3) of Brazil.

“I’m coming [for the belt],” Ulberg said following the fight.

Ulberg dominated the main event bout from the outset, relentlessly coming forward and stifling Reyes’s punches.

Following a straight left punch that appeared to stun Reyes, Ulberg then seized his opportunity with less than a minute remaining in the opening round, unleashing a huge right hook that knocked the American to the ground, ending the fight.

Reyes’s (15-4 MMA) loss on Sunday snapped his three-fight winning streak, and it was his first knockout/technical knockout (KO/TKO) loss since November 2022 to Ryan Spann.

“My goal with Reyes was to box him, and he felt the power early, and I saw in his eyes that he didn’t want to feel that again, so the next opportunity I went with the two and dropped him,” Ulberg said.

 The co-headliner event at light heavyweight saw the home country’s Jimmy Crute (14-4-2) win back-to-back fights, this time beating Croatia’s Ivan Erslan (14-6) by rear-naked-choke at 3:19 of the first round.

Erslan is still without a UFC win through three appearances, last coming away with a victory in February 2024. Meanwhile, Crute’s submission was the sixth of his career.

Featherweight Jack Jenkins of Australia used his volume striking and forward movement to overcome the always durable Ramon Taveras of the United States by unanimous decision: 30-27, 30-27, 29-28.

Jenkins (14-4) has won five of his last seven, while Taveras (10-4) has lost three of his last five and has gone more than 20 months without a win.

For the second straight fight, UFC welterweight veteran Neil Magny of the US kept the submission trend rolling with a D’arce choke against Australian fan favourite Jake Matthews at 3:08 of the third round.

Magny (31-14) survived an early onslaught from Matthews (22-8) before rallying to secure his 24th UFC win and improve his winning streak to two.