Australian captain Steve Smith rued losing wickets at crucial times after a four-wicket loss against India in the semifinal of the Champions Trophy at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Tuesday. Australia was looking good to score more than 285 at one stage but lost the wickets of well-settled Steve Smith and Alex Carey.
Smith scored a fine knock of 73 runs but was dismissed on a full toss by Mohammad Shami whereas Alex Carey (61 off 57 balls) was run out after a direct hit from Shreyas Iyer.
Travis Head (39) and Marnus Labuschagne (29) got off to promising starts but could not convert them into substantial scores. Furthermore, Glenn Maxwell and Josh Inglis were dismissed cheaply as Australia could not get the momentum in their batting innings.
Steve Smith said in the post-match presentation, “It wasn’t the easiest batting conditions, probably why the scores were where they were. Having said that, we probably could have put a few more on. We lost a couple of wickets at crucial times. If we got 280+, things could have been different. Always felt like we were one wicket too many down at each stage of the game. If we were able to drag one of those partnerships, that’s probably where we get to 280, then there’s a little bit more pressure on the game.”
Meanwhile, Australia was able to take the game deep while defending 265 despite the lack of experience in the bowling line-up. Nathan Ellis and Adam Zampa bagged two wickets each but the other bowlers could not contribute much.
Smith said, “I thought the bowlers did a really good job, they worked hard throughout, the spinners squeezed and enabled us take the game a bit deeper than potentially could have done. It was a tricky wicket to start on batting and tough to rotate the strike at times, everyone did a really good job tonight. It played pretty similar throughout to be fair. Little bit of hold for the spinners, little bit of spin here and there and a bit of skid. And the pacers, it was just some two-pace to the wicket, balls were holding a little bit.”
Speaking on their campaign in the Champions Trophy, Smith was delighted with the way they showed their fight with the ball despite their lack of experience.
He concluded, “The way we’ve come together. The bowling attack was quite inexperienced, they did a wonderful job throughout. Some of the batters really stood up and got some big totals. That game against England, we played exceptionally well. There were glimpses tonight of some really good stuff as well. Some really good cricketers in that change room and they are going to continue to get bigger and better.”
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