India vs Australia 2017, 1st ODI: 5 things we learnt from the match

#3 MS Dhoni paints the finishing touches with 100th half-century

Dhoni added his magical touch at the end to take India to a fine total

The first word that comes into your mind when you think of MS Dhoni has to be 'finisher'. He has mastered and perfected art so much that death overs without Dhoni seem an ignominy. With India reduced to 87/5, the former captain resorted to his usual tactic of biding his time to launch an attack. But by then Pandya started his blitzkrieg and Dhoni played second-fiddle to the rampant Baroda all-rounder.

Once Pandya departed in the 41st over, with India just about scrambling over 200, the onus was on Dhoni to take India to a decent score. His first four of the innings came after facing 66 balls and completed his half-century, adding zero more to his boundary count. But then the wicket-keeper batsman got stuck into a haphazard James Faulkner, taking him on for three fours and two sixes in the final three overs. Even though Faulkner got rid of Dhoni in the final over, he had given India some much-needed impetus and also completed a century of half-centuries across formats.

Yet another 100 for @msdhoni! This time in front of the stumps! Congratulations on a century of 50s Mahi ?? pic.twitter.com/2yPf1wUnW7

— sachin tendulkar (@sachin_rt) September 17, 2017