Champions Trophy final: Australia captain Steve Smith dismissed the notion that India got any advantage by playing all the matches at one venue after his side’s four-wicket loss in the semi-final of the ongoing Champions Trophy. The issue of India playing all the matches at one venue has been a topic of debate among former cricketers and fans, and many have questioned the tournament’s schedule. However, Smith attributed India’s win to their superior performance and dismissed claims of any unfair advantage.
Smith acknowledged India’s dominance and justified his team’s win. “Yeah, look, I don’t buy that. I think it is what it is. India played some great cricket here. The surface suited their spinners and fast bowlers and they have the right bowlers available for this wicket. They played well, outplayed us completely, and they deserved the win,” he said in the post-match press conference on Tuesday night.
Australia’s batting falters despite a strong start
After winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Australia had planned to put a strong target on the scoreboard. Travis Head gave the team a quick start by scoring a quick 39 off 33 balls, putting Australia in a strong position. With a good run rate, a score of over 300 looked possible.
However, the Indian bowlers kept taking wickets at crucial times, which prevented Australia from building big partnerships. Smith admitted that if they had been able to stretch a partnership longer, a score of 290 to 300 was possible, instead of being bundled out for 264.
“Yes, I think the toss decision was right. We had opportunities to score above 300. We lost an extra wicket at some crucial moments. If we had been able to stretch a partnership a little more, maybe we could have reached 290-300 and put pressure on the scoreboard,” Smith said.
Smith also pointed out that the pitch was not easy to bat on and the condition of the pitch was also a reason for the relatively low score. “It was obviously not the easiest wicket to bat on. The whole square block has seen a lot of cricket in the last few months. It looks a bit tired and that’s probably the reason why there hasn’t been a score above 300 so far in this tournament. We did okay, but maybe we needed to stretch some partnerships a bit longer so that we could have scored 300 or more.”
Australian players missed in fielding
Defending a modest target of 265 runs, Australia had chances to put India under early pressure, but they made mistakes at crucial moments. Rohit Sharma got two lives in the powerplay when Australia dropped two crucial catches. These missed catches gave the Indian captain a chance to continue his innings and helped India chase the target.
The most important moment came in the 26th over, when Glenn Maxwell had a golden opportunity to dismiss Virat Kohli. Maxwell dived to the right and tried to catch the ball with one hand, but the ball did not stay in his hand, giving Kohli a chance to add 30 more runs to his score.
Discussing the mistakes made in fielding, Smith said that it is important to capitalize on such opportunities. “We dropped a few catches and when you are trying to tighten the game and want to build pressure, you need to take those chances, especially when you have scored 260. But this is part of the game, it keeps happening. No one deliberately drops catches.”
India’s solid batting confirmed the ticket to the final
Although India lost early wickets, the middle order provided stability to the team and led it to victory. KL Rahul and Virat Kohli played restrained innings, which made it easy for India to achieve the target. They handled the pressure well, exploited Australia’s weak fielding and successfully navigated through the middle overs.
With this win, India continued their unbeaten streak in the tournament and made it to the final. Head coach Gautam Gambhir also rejected the notion that India got any unfair advantage by playing all the matches in Dubai. He said his team just performed according to the conditions.
Now that India have reached the final, Australia need to introspect on their performance. Smith and his team will now focus on future competitions, trying to move forward by learning from this disappointing semi-final loss. source sports.ndtv
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