Australia captain Steve Smith on Thursday accused his batsmen of “panicking” under pressure and demanded they show more starch after another collapse against India saw his side thrashed by 50 runs in the second one-day international in Kolkata.
India set Australia 252 to chase at Eden Gardens and defended it with ease as the tourists lost openers David Warner and Hilton Cartwright for 1 run apiece and crumbled with a hat-trick to left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav.
The world champions trail the hosts 2-0 in the five-match series and have now notched up their 10th one-day loss in succession on overseas pitches.
Photo: AP
Clearly fed up, Smith, who scored 59, said his batsmen were making “silly errors” and had to change their approach
“It’s happening a bit too often for my liking, to be honest with you, in all forms of cricket,” Smith told reporters. “We’ve had a lot of collapses and we need to stop. The guys have trained really well, and it’s now about getting out in the middle and executing your skills when you’re under pressure, and not panicking. I think we panicked last game a little bit and in this game, we just couldn’t get the partnerships. We’re making silly errors when we’re under pressure.”
Australia’s final five batsmen managed a total of 10 runs between them, while the top order rarely looked comfortable playing the spin of Kuldeep and Yuzvendra Chahal.
“It’s easy to just sit here and say: ‘It needs to stop,’ but when you get out in the middle you have to change what you’re doing because it’s not working,” added Smith, whose 100th one-day international was spoiled by the result.
Marcus Stoinis was unbeaten on 62 from 65 balls in a rare bright spot for the tourists, and Smith said he had given his teammates the blueprint for how to handle the conditions and the India bowlers.
“He didn’t panic, he was calm and he played good cricket shots,” Smith said. “He was nice and positive with his intent. We just needed someone else in the top four to go on and make a score.”
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