ICC World Cup 2019 | India outplayed us, says Aaron Finch

06/10/2019

Aaron Finch has mentioned that India outplayed Australia during the World Cup encounter at The Oval on Sunday. The Indian batsmen scored 352 runs, with Shikhar Dhawan hitting a century, after opting to bat first while Australia could only manage 316 runs despite playing their full quota of 50 overs.

The Indian openers gave their side a fine start on Sunday as they stitched a 127-run opening stand. After Shikhar Dhawan’s dismissal in the 37th over, India’s score read 220 for two and Hardik Pandya and Virat Kohli took it to 226 at the end of 40 overs. However, 126 runs came off the final 10 overs to take India to a total of 352. Aaron Finch rued his side’s poor bowling, especially in the death overs.

“They got 120 off the last 10 overs and which is a lot. We didn't bowl well. With so much batting to come, makes it tough to stop. There wasn't huge amount on offer (help for the bowlers). We could have been straighter, dried up (runs) a little bit at times. They (India) bat very deep, you want to go for wickets. Just one of those games, they outplayed us,” he said at the post-match press conference, reported Cricbuzz.

The Australian openers too looked to play on lines of their Indian counterparts as they were looking to keep wickets in hand. However, Finch was dismissed in a run-out in the 13th over, when his side was standing at 61 runs. The skipper was in fumes post his dismissal but refused to put the blame on his partner David Warner.

“You are rubbing it in (the reaction after dismissal). You back your partners, I could have said no as well. We were starting to pick up the tempo; that's one mode of dismissal (run-out),” expressed the 32-year-old.

Warner played an uncharacteristic innings as he played 84 balls while only managing to score 56 in such a huge run-chase. Finch reckoned that the southpaw will bounce back in the upcoming matches.

"They bowled well to him. The wicket was a touch slow when we started to bat. He's a great batsman; he's a world-class player and he'll bounce back,” he assured.

Australia went in with an unchanged playing XI from their previous game. It was expected that Nathan Coulter-Nile, who returned with figures of 63 for one, might be dropped for this game but his unusual batting exploits ensured him a berth against India. When Finch was asked if he would change the combination for the next game against Pakistan, the skipper replied that he would assess the conditions.

“You look at everything. You assess the conditions; you look for different combinations and different balances over time,” he shared.