ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Steven Smith admits that Australia was saved by the rain

Australian Skipper, Steven Smith hopes his pacers come good as the tournament progresses

What’s the story?

Australia would consider themselves lucky after they got away from a potentially damaging loss against New Zealand on Friday (June 2) in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 and their skipper Steve Smith slammed his star-studded pace attack for an ordinary performance in the game.

“I thought it was probably one of the worst bowling displays that we’ve put on for a very long time,” Smith said. “We bowled both sides of the wicket. We gave them a lot of freebies. And it was pretty ordinary, to be honest with you.”

“We still had a lot of work to do and they’ve got a quality bowling attack as well, so we perhaps got away with one there. We certainly would have preferred to be in New Zealand’s position when we came off at the end,” he said during the post-match press conference.

In case you didn’t know...

Australia played New Zealand in their Champions Trophy opener where the Kiwis posted a total of 291 after the match was reduced to 46 overs-a-side after a downpour.

Later, when Australia came out to bat, the play was further shortened due to many interruptions and the target was revised 235 from 33 overs.

The play was then paused again when Australia was 53/3 in 9.0 overs and afterwards as the rains continued, the match was abandoned. One point was awarded to each of the two teams.

Extra cover: Ravindra Jadeja turns pacer in nets to help Indian batsmen combat Mohammad Amir

The heart of the matter

Australia found themselves in a crunch spot when they were 53/3 and the skipper Steve Smith admitted that the weather came to their rescue as they got away with a hurtful loss and also helped his side get one point – as opposed to zero.

Australia’s bowling performance was termed ordinary by their skipper as they leaked 114 runs in the initial 15 overs. However, the bowlers fought back hard towards the end of the first innings. It was Josh Hazelwood who caused the collapse and finished with figures 6/52 as the Kiwis lost seven wickets for a meagre 36 runs in six overs.

Starc (0/52) went wicketless in his return to international cricket post the injury he suffered in India earlier this year. The Australian skipper hopes its just initial rust for the star- left-arm pacer and hopes it's gone and they can witness his usual dominant performance in the upcoming games of the tournament.

What’s next?

Australia will next face Bangladesh in their second encounter at the Oval on June 5.

Author’s take

Australia’s pace trio underperformed in the opener and although Hazelwood pulled out a stunning performance at the end of the first innings, it could not mask Smith’s frustration.

The Aussies are one of the tournament favourites and will look to bounce back hard from this minor setback in their next game. It will be interesting to see how the team tackles the issues.