Aaron Finch blamed himself for Australia’s defeat in the first T20 International, believing his 33-ball-44 had slowed his side down in the run chase. His innings had forced the rest of the batsmen to take big risks against India’s spinners, the Australian captain felt. “I allowed us to get too far behind the rate from the start,” Finch said.
“David Warner and Steve Smith were outstanding in their intent. I couldn’t get off strike and I couldn’t hit boundaries for a period there. So I take full responsibility for them and Travis getting out.”
Ravindra Jadeja and R. Ashwin turned the game in India’s favour as Australia slipped from 89 for one to 93 for four in the space of 13 balls. “It might have spun slightly more and we probably didn’t expect that,” Finch said.
“But when you are chasing 9-10 an over against world-class spinners like Ashwin and Jadeja it is always going to be tough.”
M.S. Dhoni was pleased that his bowlers, including the quicks, had delivered.
“I know they lost quite a few wickets by the time the death overs came and they didn’t have proper batsmen batting, but I still felt Bumrah and Ashish Nehra executed their plans really well,” he said. “That’s one period where we have struggled consistently, so it’s good to see them bowl well.”
Jadeja had given the team stability, Dhoni said. “Whenever there is a bit of help, he bowls well. His spectrum of performance is usually quite narrow. His good and bad performances — there is less difference between them, which makes it slightly easy for us and gives us stability.”
