Dhoni blames India batsmen for huge defeat

Guwahati: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni blamed the batsmen's inability to read the track in the first 15 minutes for their humiliating six-wicket loss in the sixth One-day International that gave Australia a 4-2 series win here yesterday.

Dhoni's decision to bat first back-fired after the top-order failed to negotiate the new ball and they lost seven wickets for just 75 runs by the 31st over.

But Ravindra Jadeja (57) and Praveen Kumar (54 not out) hit defiant half-centuries to pull India out from a disastrous 27 for five to 170 all out in 48 overs.

"The first half an hour was important, and the first 15 minutes did all the damage today. They did bowl well. There was swing there and they exploited it well," said Dhoni.

"The way we lost in Mohali and Nagpur, as a team you don't want to lose like that. But full credit to Australia, they took the games away," he added.

Satisfying

Australian captain Ricky Ponting said that it was the most satisfying series win for him. It was a great effort from the Australian team in the series where they have struggled with injuries and lost five players during the first four matches.

Man of the Match Doug Bollinger, who picked up five for 35, said that it has been a great learning experience for him.

Sri Lankan Test team arrives for Test series Mumbai, Nov 8 (PTI) Sri Lankan Test team, seeking its first win in India, arrived in the western city on Sunday to play a three-match series, commencing on November 16.

The Kumar Sangakkara-led squad landed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport at around 2.30 AM IST. The team will begin their campaign with a three-day game against Board President's XI starting on November 11 in Mumbai, from where they will move on to Ahmedabad for the first Test starting on November 16.

Kanpur (November 24-November 28) and Mumbai (December 2-December 6) will host the second and third Tests respectively. Both the teams have played each other 29 times in Test matches with India having won 11 matches, while the visitors have won only five.

The remaining 13 matches have ended in draws. Interestingly, none of Sri Lanka's five wins have come in India though the visiting team has played 14 matches in the country. India beat Sri Lanka 2-0 the last time these two teams met in the country in a three-match series in 2005-06.

After the Test series, Sri Lanka will play two Twenty20 Internationals -- Nagpur (December 9) and Mohali (December 12) -- and five one-dayers at Rajkot (Dec 15), Visakhapatnam (Dec 18), Cuttack (Dec 21), Kolkata (Dec 24) and Delhi (Dec 27). All the ODIs, barring the first, will be day-night encounters.

Sri Lanka Test squad: Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Tharanga Paranavitana, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Thilina Kandamby, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Kaushal Silva, Chanaka Welegedara, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekera, Dammika Prasad, Rangana Herath, Ajantha Mendis.

Scoreboard

India

V. Sehwag b Johnson 6

S. Tendulkar c and b Bollinger 10

G. Gambhir b Johnson 0

Y. Singh b Bollinger 6

M. Dhoni lbw b Bollinger 24

S. Raina c Hauritz b Johnson 0

R. Jadeja c White b Bollinger 57

H. Singh b Bollinger 0

P. Kumar not out 54

A. Nehra b Watson 4

M. Patel b Watson 0

Extras: (b1, lb1, w4, nb3) 9

Total (for all out in 48 overs) 170

Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Sehwag), 2-7 (Gambhir), 3-23 (Tendulkar), 4-24 (Yuvraj), 5-27 (Raina), 6-75 (Dhoni), 7-75 (Harbhajan), 8-149 (Jadeja), 9-170 (Nehra), 10-170 (Patel).

Bowling: Johnson 9-1-39-3 (w4), Bollinger 10-4-35-5 (nb3), McKay 10-1-44-0, Hauritz 9-2-19-0, Watson 8-0-27-2, Voges 2-0-4-0.

Australia

S. Watson c Sehwag b Harbhajan 49

S. Marsh lbw b Patel 6

R. Ponting c Raina b Harbhajan 25

C. White lbw b Raina 25

M. Hussey not out 35

A. Voges not out 23

Extras: (b6, lb2, w1) 9

Total (for 4 wkts in 41.5 overs) 172

Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Marsh), 2-85 (Watson), 3-90 (Ponting), 4-143 (White).

Bowling: Kumar 2-0-10-1, Nehra 3-0-21-0 (w1), Patel 4-1-13-1, Jadeja 10-1-36-0, Harbhajan 10-1-23-2, Yuvraj 7-1-29-1, Raina 3-0-13-1, Sehwag 2-0-8-0, Tendulkar 0.5-0-11-0.

Australia win by six wickets