Captain Virat Kohli has explained the reasons for India's eight-wicket defeat to Australia in the second Twenty20 International in Guwahati last night (October 10).
David Warner-led Australia won on Tuesday night to square the three-match rubber 1-1. The hosts had won the opening game in Ranchi. The series decider is on Friday (October 13) in Hyderabad.
Jason Behrendorff, Moises Henriques (62 not out) and Travis Head (48 not out) were the stars for the visitors as Australia won the contest in 15.3 overs, successfully chasing down 119. Kedar Jadhav was India's top-scorer with 27.
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After sent in, India were in doldrums at 27/4 in 4.3 overs. Skipper Kohli was out for a duck as the hosts' top order was blown away by Behrendorff (4/21 in 4 overs). The left-arm paceman dismissed Rohit Sharma (8), Shikhar Dhawan (2), Kohli (0) and Manish Pandey (6). India were all out for 118.
Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, Kohli rued the team's batting failures and credited Australia for being much better than the hosts.
According to the captain, low total, dew and Behrendorff's bowling spell were the main reasons for hosts' defeat.
"Not the performance we wished for. Australia were much better on the day," the 28-year-old said.
"We were not good enough with the bat. After the dew set in, it was very difficult to control the game," he added.
The Delhi right-hander praised Behrendorff. "I thought the ball (from Behrendorff) to Rohit was very good. His line and length was very tight. He made us think. Credit to him for hitting the right areas. He definitely had a top class day today," he said.
Warner too praised Behrendorff's superb bowling. "It feels great. As I said at the toss, we had to bowl well and start well. And Dorff (Behrendorff) bowling there, taking four-for in his first real spell. Really fantastic. he's got the height, the bounce and the swing. He's from Perth. He was really fantastic," the skipper said.
