2017 ICC Champions Trophy: Just Haven’t Been Able To Find Any Momentum In The Tournament – Steven Smith

Nov 2, 2023 at 3:43 PM

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2017 ICC Champions Trophy: Just Haven’t Been Able To Find Any Momentum In The Tournament – Steven Smith

Australia skipper Steven Smith has rued his team’s middle-order collapse after the world champions were eliminated from the Champions Trophy following their loss to England in the final Group A game at Edgbaston on Saturday (June 10).

After being asked to bat first, the team from Down Under got a decent start with David Warner and Aaron Finch adding 40 for the first wicket and were looking well set to post a big total when the latter along with Smith added 96 runs for the second wicket. However, once Ben Stokes dismissed Finch for 68, their innings took a turn for the worse. They kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and eventually finished on 277 for nine, thanks to a 71-run knock by Travis Head.

“We got ourselves in a pretty good position early with the bat,” Smith said at the post-match press conference. “We kept losing wickets through the middle, and someone in the top four probably needed to go on and make a hundred. We weren’t able to do that. We lost 5 for 15 at one point as well, which you can’t afford to do against an opposition like England.”

This was the first time when Australia batted for the full 50 overs, as their previous two matches were washed out. Lack of match practice could have been a reason for Australia’s middle-order collapse but Smith refused to use it as an excuse.

“You say that we only had one hit, but that should be good enough for the players that we’ve got on our team,” he said. “You know, we’ve got some good players in our lineup. We just weren’t able to get those partnerships together today and get ourselves a score up over 300. England probably bowled a fraction short with the newer ball, and when they got it up there, it was quite hard work.”

Defending 277, Australia started strongly, reducing England to 35 for three and sending back their in-form batsmen Alex Hales and Joe Root cheaply before Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes ended the Kangaroos’ hopes of winning the game by sharing a magnificent 159-runs for the fourth wicket, as the Three Lions won the game by 40 runs (DLS method. Morgan was out after scoring 87 while Stokes remained unbeaten on 102.

“I thought we started reasonably well with the ball,” said Smith. “To get three early wickets was quite crucial and then it seemed like there was a bit of a momentum shift after that rain delay. Stokesy and Morgy came out and played very positively. We were off a bit with the way we were bowling. We gave them a lot of freebies, but they did play exceptionally well.”

The defeat, meanwhile, has ended a long run of matches for the Steve Smith-led side. After a home summer which included five Tests, eight ODIs and three T20s in addition to three ODIs in New Zealand and the Big Bash League, Australia played a draining four-Test series in India before some of their players took part in the Indian Premier League.

When asked whether the players failed to perform because of the long season, Smith said: 

“That’s no excuse. When you’re playing in a big tournament for your country, you need to step up and get the job done. We weren’t able to get that done on this occasion.”

“We had some frustrating games throughout and just haven’t been able to find any momentum. It was disappointing,” he concluded.

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