Hits and Misses: Archaic rain laws leave fans wanting as Australia cruise past India in Perth

Australia grabbed a first-up win over India in Perth but the match as a spectacle was largely ruined by constant and unnecessary rain delays.

Here are our hits and misses from the first ODI.

HITS

1. Super Cooper!

WA young gun Cooper Connolly continues to distinguish himself.

Feilding at the all-important gully position, he ensured Indian superstar Virat Kohli’s Perth farewell never got started.

Kohli found himself frustrated after seven balls without getting off the mark before pushing his hands at ball from Mitchell Starc.

It flew to Connolly’s left but the youngster was up to the task, diving and pouching the ball in both hands.

2. Kuhnemann cool

Matthew Kuhnemann has one of the most thankless tasks in world cricket, traveling with the Australian team as back-up to Nathan Lyon and Adam Zampa.

But when he finally got a chance to shine on Sunday, he took his moment.

Brought into the attack for what was effectively the death overs, he put the skids on India’s late assault.

His 2-26 from four overs prevented India from even getting close to 150 and it was only his final over that India were able to get him for maximums.

He even completed a tidy runout at the bowler’s end.

3. Can’t hold him

No boundary in the world is big enough to stop Mitch Marsh.

The West Aussie was in a no-nonsense mood as he set about chasing down the 131 total.

He started the innings with a leave and continued to respect the good balls, but anything that offered him the opportunity to free the arms went the journey.

His three maximums were huge, rocketing 84, 94 and 86 metres respectively.

And two of the them came from incredible shots over cover.

He settled in after that as fellow WA product Josh Phillippe put his hands on the wheel for a while, the pair putting on 55 runs.

The skipper saw his team home, ending the run chase unbeaten on 46.

MISSES

1. Rain, rain

For the first time in seven years, the Perth Stadium covers were pulled into usage.

And they shone in their first action as rain swirled around Burswood for much of the afternoon.

But while the ground staff did a great job of looking after the surface, the over cautious approach of officials and the archaic rain laws continue to prove a frustration for cricket fans.

The sight of players walking off for a few specks of water drew boos, and the first two delays were unnecessary, nearly an hour of cricket lost due to the law that states once play has stopped for rain, it must completely stop before the ground can be prepared for a restart.

In a landscape where longer formats are fighting for survival, rain laws need to be added to the MCC’s agenda.

2. Caught Short

Cricket is so often a game of instinct and unfortunately for Australia captain Mitch Marsh, he got one wrong in the field.

With India only having 26 overs to post a score after rain halted their innings four times, they needed to go hell for leather.

And KL Rahul must of thought his birthday had come early when part-time off-spinner Matt Short was called into the attack.

The Victorian is brutal with the bat but found himself watching his bowling sail over the rope as Rahul turned on an over of 17 runs to give the visitors something to defend.

3. Duckworth Lewis-Stern

It’s never easy to factor in the nausances of the effect rain delays have on cricket, but surely the team who’s innings is interrupted four times and then reduced midway through shouldn’t also then lose runs.

India managed 9-136 from their allotted 26 overs but once the maths was run they only had 131 to defend from the same amount of overs.

The magical DLS method should be thanked for giving the fans a result but the target could have been adjusted to provide more of a contest in the second innings as Australia finished the match with nearly five overs to spare.