Crestfallen Steve Smith says Australia ‘panicking’ under pressure | Cricket - Hindustan Times
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Crestfallen Steve Smith says Australia ‘panicking’ under pressure

Hindustan Times, Kolkata | By
Sep 22, 2017 07:24 PM IST

Steve Smith, Australia cricket team captain, said he and his teammates committed many mistakes under pressure and it led to his side losing wickets in clumps against Indian cricket team in the second ODI in Kolkata

That India have got Australia cricket team to make mistakes under pressure tells you a lot about what Virat Kohli’s team is capable of, at least in familiar conditions. (IND vs AUS 2nd ODI Highlights)

Australia cricket team captain Steve Smith (C) looks dejected as Indian cricket players celebrate the wicket of Travis Head during the second ODI at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday.(AFP)
Australia cricket team captain Steve Smith (C) looks dejected as Indian cricket players celebrate the wicket of Travis Head during the second ODI at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday.(AFP)

Aussie Skipper Steve Smith’s 100th ODI was marred by a loss after Australia cricket team’s bowlers had done well to restrict Indian cricket team at Eden Gardens. Smith said making mistakes under pressure caused them the match. The visitors trail 0-2 in the five-match series. (IND vs AUS 2nd ODI Scorecard)

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“Our bowlers did a terrific job to reduce India to 252. I think we took 7/16 at the back-end and the guys executed their skills really well,” said Smith after the match. “We should be getting that target on such a wicket. But we made too many poor decisions under pressure and lost wickets in clumps which we can’t afford to do.”

Smith praised Marcus Stonis for his positive intent.

“I thought (Marcus) Stoinis played well at the back-end showing nice, positive intent but it needed for one among myself and Heady (Travis Head) to go on,” added the Australian skipper. “So, a lot of the blame falls on us because one among the top four needed to go on and close the game. We got 70-odd and if you turn 70 into 140, the game’s closed. We couldn’t do it.”

Smith was clearly upset with the “silly errors” his team committed.

“We didn’t get partnerships and made silly errors and you can’t afford that against a quality line-up like India,” he said. “We panicked a bit in the last game but it is easy to sit here and say you need to change what you are doing because it is not working, I think it is about making better decisions under pressure. It is not good to see so many collapses. Maybe we are watching the ball too closely and not playing our normal game. ”

And though Steve Smith said he thought the ball spun more as the match went on, he felt they had played India’s wrist spinners quite well, Kuldeep Yadav’s hat-trick notwithstanding.

“Our tailenders couldn’t play him (Yadav) as well as our batters, we actually felt comfortable against him today but we couldn’t go on to close the game,” said the Australia skipper.

It was the way Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah bowled at the start that really challenged Australia, admitted Smith.

“They got the ball to swing both ways and challenged our defence which is what frontline bowlers should do,” he added. I think the wicket spun a bit more in the evening and both (Yuzvendra) Chahal and Kuldeep bowled slower and got it to turn sharply but in terms of pace,it remained pretty much the same through the day.”

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Dhiman Sarkar is based in Kolkata with over two decades as a sports journalist. He writes mainly on football.

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