Australian skipper Pat Cummins admitted they were at least 50 runs short of a par score after their six-wicket loss against India at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Sunday. After electing to bat first, Australia was skittled out for a paltry score of 199 runs.
The Men in Yellow got off to a poor start as Mitchell Marsh was dismissed cheaply, with Virat Kohli taking a sharp catch at first slip off Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling. However, Australia’s two most experienced batters – Steve Smith and David Warner – were able to get going, adding 69 runs for the second wicket.
But Warner was caught and bowled by Kuldeep Yadav whereas Smith received a peach of a delivery from Ravindra Jadeja, who finished with impressive figures of 3-28. From a decent position of 110-2, Australia slipped to 140-7 as they lost five wickets for 30 runs in 9.2 overs with Indian spinners doing all the damage.
Smith, Warner, and Marnus Labuchagne got off to starts but none of them could convert them into substantial scores.
On the other hand, Australia had India on the mat at 2-3 in the run-chase but Virat Kohli (85) and KL Rahul (97*) were able to see their team through. The experienced duo added a fine alliance of 165 runs after the hosts lost three early wickets of Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, and Shreyas Iyer.
Pat Cummins said in the post-match presentation, “ At least 50-odd (short with the bat). It was tough, trying to defend anything under 200. It was a really good bowling attack and their spinners made it tough work out there. I wasn’t too upset (with just two spinners), we had 20 overs of spin but some more runs on the board would have made the difference. I have already forgotten about it (the drop catch), it happens, 4/10 would have been a dream start.
He added, “Hazlewood is a class bowler and poses a lot of questions, stays in that area and was fantastic today. We have to review this one, absolutely a tough surface, but what if we are up against it then how would we do differently. Just one game out of nine, not too much to ponder about but there are some areas we need to get better.”
Australia would have been disappointed with their batting effort and another 30 runs on the board, could have made things a bit more interesting.
The Pat Cummins-led team will next take on South Africa at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Thursday.
