5 reasons why India lost the World Cup semifinal against Australia

India put up a fight but eventually went down to Australia by 95 runs in their 2015 World Cup semifinal in Sydney on Thursday.

India put up a fight but eventually went down to Australia by 95 runs in their 2015 World Cup semifinal in Sydney on Thursday.

Here are five reasons why the Men in Blue could not come up with the goods at the SCG:



Smith comes up with the goods

India got David Warner early, but in walked Steve Smith and, ultimately, walked away with the game. The No. 3 batsman hammered 105 off 93 balls. Smith has been in excellent form in the last few months and turned it on in style in Sydney, smashing 11 fours and 2 sixes.





Johnson and Faulkner cameos

After Smith's innings, Mitchell Johnson and James Faulkner came to the party for the hosts. Johnson blasted an unbeaten 27 off just 9 deliveries after Faulkner's 12-ball 21. Their cameos helped the Aussies score 57 runs in the last five overs to ensure they surpassed 300 runs.





Off-colour Shami

Mohammad Shami had been in superb form throughout this World Cup, taking 17 wickets. However, he had an off-day in this match, overdoing the short stuff on a good batting track. The pacer wicketless in his 10 overs and conceded 68 runs.





Failure to capitalise on good start

Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma got India's chase off to a solid start, putting on 76. However, the batting line-up failed to capitalise on it in the face of some disciplined bowling by the Aussies. Virat Kohli, who is usually excellent in big-run chases, was dismissed for 1, while Ajinkya Rahane (44 off 68 balls) got bogged down in the middle overs.





Vital toss

MS Dhoni losing the toss was another factor on a flat batting pitch at the SCG. Chasing a tall score against one of the best bowling sides of the tournament was always going to be a tough task.

I can't begin to tell you what an advantage that is to Australia winning the toss on this dry, rock hard pitch at the SCG !!!! #CWC15

— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) March 26, 2015

India should not be too disappointed they lost to a better team. They would have competed better if they had won the toss.

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) March 26, 2015