‘We’ll take 250 but got it wrong in end’
ADELAIDE: Australia pacer Mitchell Starc was satisfied with his team’s bowling but rued letting India off the hook after reducing them to 127 for six in the 50th over. “I thought we bowled really well for four hours, probably pretty well for another hour and probably got it a bit wrong at the end there,” Starc said.
“Cheteshwar Pujara batted a lot of time. He’s someone who likes to absorb pressure and bat a long time, and credit to him he scored a fantastic hundred today. I think if you asked us at the start of the day if we’d take losing the toss and India being 9 for 250 at stumps, I think we’d bite your arm off,” he said.
The 28-year-old pacer, however, said it is still early stage and they will need to work hard to achieve a win. “You can’t judge a wicket until both teams have had a crack,” he said.
“We’ve planned and prepared really well for this week and had a lot of vision to look at, and how India have played in the past. They did go quite hard (at the ball) but we bowled exceptionally well for the first four hours, especially when the ball got soft and stopped moving around, the scoreboard never got away from us,” Starc said about keeping the run-rate under control.”
Talking about Pujara’s runout, Starc said: “It was a special moment for him (Pat Cummins), especially after a long day in the field. It was a good little effort from him.”
Squad: Faf du Plessis (capt), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock, Dean Elgar, Zubayr Hamza, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Duanne Olivier, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn.