Ind vs Aus: We lost important wickets at wrong times, says Pandya

Having suffered a 66-run defeat against Australia in the first ODI, India all-rounder Hardik Pandya said that the team lost wickets at wrong times and that derailed their chase at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday.

Having suffered a 66-run defeat against Australia in the first ODI, India all-rounder Hardik Pandya said that the team lost wickets at wrong times and that derailed their chase at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday. Chasing a monumental target of 375, the visitors were never really in the game except for a brief stage when opener Shikhar Dhawan (74) and Hardik Pandya (90) put on 128 runs for the fifth wicket. The top half of the innings had left a lot to be desired even though openers Mayank Agarwal and Dhawan did get off to a flier and added 53 in the first five overs.

Pandya and Dhawan did look to counter and keep wickets in the bag, but the ever-increasing asking rate saw them both perish as they looked to take on Zampa. With Pandya dismissed in the 39th over, it was all about completing the formalities for the hosts. In the end, India was restricted to 308/8 in their 50 overs. "When you have 370 odd runs to chase there is not much planning, it is clear that everyone has to play with the intent and need to fire with a good strike-rate as well. When I was batting, I genuinely felt that we could have done it but we lost important wickets at the wrong times. Shikhar got out," Pandya said at the virtual post-match press conference.

"Shikhar and I had a fantastic partnership and we could have build up from there and maybe had a better shot to get a total but unfortunately we lost wickets," he added. The hosts won the toss and opted to bat first. Skipper Aaron Finch (114) and Steve Smith's (105) tons guided the hosts to a mammoth 374/6 in their 50 overs.

Defending the target, leg-spinner Adam Zampa joined Josh Hazlewood with the ball to derail the Indian batting line-up. While Zampa finished with figures of 4/54 from his 10, Hazlewood picked three from his 10 overs and gave away 55 runs. Both the teams will face-off in the second ODI on Sunday. (ANI)

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