We lost in the first 15 minutes: Dhoni

Dejection writ large on his face after losing the ODI series to Australia, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said his team lost today's do-or-die match in the first 15 minutes itself.

Dejection writ large on his face after losing the ODI series to Australia, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said his team lost today's do-or-die match in the first 15 minutes itself.

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Dhoni's gamble to bat first on a tricky track boomeranged and the match virtually slipped out of their hand by nine overs when the home side was gasping for breath at 27 for five.

"During the toss I said that the first half hour will be crucial for us but the first 15 minutes proved more than enough," Dhoni said after the match.

"We lost quite a few wickets after that we never really were in the game," he explained.

With today's win, Australia took an unassailable 4-2 lead in the series.

For Australia, pace duo of Doug Bollinger (5/35) and Mitchell Johnson 3/39) made merry on a wicket which offered generous movement even though Dhoni defended his decision to bat first and felt a score in the vicinity of 220 could have been enough.