India captain Virat Kohli admitted that his batsmen should have done a better job in the fourth One-day International against Australia at Bengaluru, terming the defeat as a result of his team having a rare off-day on Thursday.
The hosts lost the fourth ODI by 21 runs, their first defeat after nine consecutive wins. Australia made 334/5 and in response, India fell short, managing only 313 in reply, PTI reported. “Honestly, at the 30-over mark, they were going strong. I thought if we restricted them under 350, it would be a great effort, and we did [manage] to do that,” said Kohli.
The Indians were off to a solid start as Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane put up a 106-run stand but failed to build on it in the back end of the innings, “We were optimistic with our chances. We got a good opening partnership but we needed one big partnership after that as well.
From that point of view, it wasn’t a great batting performance from us. That can happen. People have off days,” he said. India had made three changes in the playing eleven with Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Axar Patel replacing Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kuldeep Yadav.
After struggling with spin in the first three games, Kohli lauded the manner in which the visiting batsmen played the spinners, and also expressed surprise at the way the Bengaluru surface played out. He said, “Umesh and Shami bowled well. Spinners won’t always have good days. Australia were really good today. With the bat, their intent was really good.
They pulled things back nicely in the field. We didn’t play so badly, but they were better on the day. The only respite for the fast bowlers was taking the pace off the deliveries. The pitch looked worse than it played. It played very well and surprised all of us.”
Australia captain Steven Smith, who was under pressure coming into the contest with his side losing 11 consecutive ODI games away from home, expressed relief at finally getting a win on the tour. “Nice to get a win in. Warner and Finch were spectacular. They really paced their innings nicely and set us up to get 330 plus. We lost a few wickets again but Handscomb was very good at the end – nice little cameo to get us to 334. I think 300 wouldn’t have been enough,” said Smith.
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