Ineffective bowling, yet again, says Kohli

Sydney, November 29

India skipper Virat Kohli had no qualms conceding that the visitors were outplayed by a confident and ruthless Australia in the series-deciding second ODI, pinning the blame on the ineffective and inconsistent bowling by his side.

“We were completely outplayed. I think with the ball, we were not that effective, we didn’t hit the areas that we wanted to consistently and they have a strong batting line-up, they know the conditions and the angles well,” Kohli said after the defeat.

“Look at the scoreboard, we got 340 and still fell short by 50 odd, so the chase always felt steep and we knew one or two wickets would take the required rate to up to 13, 16 and so we had to keep hitting,” the India skipper said.

“They took the chances that they created in the field, which was the difference, otherwise it would have been a much closer game,” Kohli added. “Credit to them, they bowled much more consistently and used the dimensions well.”

Kohli said the two catches which led to his and Shreyas Iyer’s (38) dismissal were the “defining moments” of the game. “Me and KL (Rahul) were talking if we stick around till 40-41 (overs), even 100 in last 10 overs with Hardik to come, it was game on, that was the gameplan but the two catches that they hung on to were the defining moments,” he said.

Australian captain Aaron Finch said his bowlers took some lessons from the way Pandya bowled. “Moises bowled really well defensively including his cutters, and as Virat said, we got a bit of a blueprint from Hardik, by taking the pace off the ball,” he said. — PTI