After losing the first three of the five-match ODI series, Australia’s winless streak had stretched to eight games and the dream of winning an ODI series in India for the first time since 2009 had been nipped in the bud. Skipper Steve Smith’s frustration was very understandable as in all three games, the Australians were in a strong position, but they simply let go of the advantage each time. Yesterday was another dismal illustration of the absence of the much-fabled “Aussie spirit” as despite Finch's eighth ODI hundred and Smith's own half-century powered the visitors to 224 for 1 in the 38th over, they were restricted to a sub-300 score on a pitch where 330 would have been par

Smith, himself, has been at the receiving end of a lot of flak due to his alarming dip on the field in this series. The skipper, who put down Rohit Sharma in Chennai and then Bhuvneshwar Kumar in Kolkata, dropped Pandya at a crucial juncture of the chase with India still needing 77 to win off 79. The life given by Smith allowed Pandya, then on 41, to score a 72-ball 78, which eventually proved to be the difference.

However, Smith didn’t restrain from praising the Indian batsmen and their approach during the run chase. "I thought we set it up beautifully with the bat to launch at the back end, but I thought the Indian bowlers executed really well and we executed poorly. We couldn't get the boundaries. A total in excess of 330 might have been a different result, but credit to India. Hardik was magnificent and Rohit and Jinks (Rahane) were fabulous too," Smith said.