Renshaw, Ellis put Australia 1-0 up

A maiden ODI century from Matt Renshaw and Nathan Ellis's first five-wicket haul in international cricket helped Australia brush aside Zimbabwe by 59 runs in the opening ODI in Harare.

Renshaw helped Australia recover from a precarious position to eventually post a formidable total on the board before Ellis struck at different stages of the run chase to subdue Zimbabwe despite a fighting partnership between veterans Sikandar Raza and Craig Ervine.

Zimbabwe made a disastrous start in pursuit of 295 when Ben Curran chipped one tamely to mid off and departed for a duck. Brian Bennett gave his side some hope with some early boundaries, including a six off Spencer Johnson, but Ellis quickly put Australia in control with a double strike in his opening over. Innocent Kaia was first foxed by Ellis's trademark slower delivery before Bennett edged one behind. While Ervine made a positive start to his innings, Brendan Taylor didn't last long as he lofted one straight to long-on to gift his wicket to Renshaw. Raza and Ervine then joined forces to stem the rot with the latter in particular looking in sublime touch.

The two batters revived the chase at the halfway mark with their excellent partnership. In the process, two batters aged over 40 registered half-centuries, a first in the history of ODIs. But once again, Ellis proved to be the thorn in the flesh for Zimbabwe as he returned to the attack to break the crucial stand. To make matters worse, an injured Raza was castled by Spencer Johnson a few overs later that pretty much appeared to end Zimbabwe's hopes. The home side's lower order did put up a fight to drag the chase into the death overs but Ellis came back for his final spell and finished the game for good by adding two more to his tally that gave him a five-fer.

Earlier in the day, Australia put up a strong total on the board despite losing their top four inside 18 overs. Opting to bat, the world champions lost an early wicket when Travis Head chopped one on to his stumps in just the second over. But Mitchell Marsh and Cooper Connolly turned the tide pretty quick with a flurry of boundaries. Marsh was the aggressor as he hammered successive short deliveries for a four and a six off Blessing Muzarabani. It was the bowling change that did the trick to stop the marauding Marsh as Newman Nyamburi struck in his first over to get rid of the Australian skipper.

That dismissal triggered a mini collapse. Nyamhuri struck again when Josh Inglis edged one behind and Raza got the big wicket of Connolly who had just gone past fifty with a six after surviving two chances in two overs. At that point, Australia needed a rebuild as Renshaw joined Carey out in the middle. With less than 18 overs sent down, Carey was more than content in playing out deliveries in order to bat deep into the innings. Once the partnership grew in confidence, Renshaw took on Bennett to smash a six over deep midwicket before following it up with another big one off Wellington Mazakadza in the very next over.

Just when the partnership was brewing, Brad Evans came back into the attack to provide relief to the home side with Carey's wicket. That didn't deter Renshaw who hammered another six to bring up his fifty before forging another useful stand, this time with Peake. The two batters shifted gears as the boundaries started flowing for Australia before a hit-wicket sent Peake packing to the pavilion as he stepped onto the stumps. Renshaw eventually brought up his maiden ton in the format before becoming Nyamhuri's fifth and final victim.

Brief scores: Australia 294/8 in 50 overs (Matt Renshaw 109, Cooper Connolly 51; Newman Nyamhuri 5-62) beat Zimbabwe 235 in 45.1 overs (Craig Ervine 59, Sikandar Raza 57; Nathan Ellis 5-31) by 59 runs.