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We are still not at our best: Hussey
Michael Hussey says Australia are doing well despite not being at their best in the CB Series
- Press Trust of India
- Updated: March 26, 2008 09:41 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Melbourne:
Australia defeated Sri Lanka by 24 runs on the basis of Duckworth/Lewis method in the rain-curtailed one-dayer here and assured a place for themselves in the title round.
Hussey said though Australia had made the final, the hosts needed to better performances to emerge champions.
"It's great to be in the finals. That's the first thing in mind when you play and we have done that even though we are not playing our best cricket at this point," the left-hander said.
"Before the finals, we will fine-tune our skills, whether it's against Sri Lanka or India," he said.
Hussey, who played a crucial unbeaten knock of 64 in Australia's low scoring effort of 184 for seven in 50 overs, said the total was a competitive one as run-scoring was not so easy on the slow track.
"The track was slow and the odd bounce helped the ball take off. The Sri Lankan bowled well and it was difficult to score. We needed to be patient and 184 was a defendable score," he said.
Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said losing too many wickets early on cost them the match as D/L method came into play.
"We made things tougher for us. We lost too many wickets early on and with rain coming it became more difficult.
"We had planned things (for the rain) but losing wickets did not help," he said.
Jayawardene heaped praise on his bowlers for restricting the hosts to a total less than 200.
"We bowled well, made full use of the pitch and got early breakthroughs. A total of 180 was very achievable, but losing a couple of wickets early made the difference," he said.
Jayawardene said they badly needed to improve their batting to win the next two matches.
"We have to win both the games. If we get our batting sorted out, we have a very good chance," he said.
Australia's Michael Hussey on Friday admitted that the world champions are not playing up to their potential and should iron out the chinks in their batting before the best-of-three tri-series finals.Australia defeated Sri Lanka by 24 runs on the basis of Duckworth/Lewis method in the rain-curtailed one-dayer here and assured a place for themselves in the title round.
Hussey said though Australia had made the final, the hosts needed to better performances to emerge champions.
"It's great to be in the finals. That's the first thing in mind when you play and we have done that even though we are not playing our best cricket at this point," the left-hander said.
"Before the finals, we will fine-tune our skills, whether it's against Sri Lanka or India," he said.
Hussey, who played a crucial unbeaten knock of 64 in Australia's low scoring effort of 184 for seven in 50 overs, said the total was a competitive one as run-scoring was not so easy on the slow track.
"The track was slow and the odd bounce helped the ball take off. The Sri Lankan bowled well and it was difficult to score. We needed to be patient and 184 was a defendable score," he said.
Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said losing too many wickets early on cost them the match as D/L method came into play.
"We made things tougher for us. We lost too many wickets early on and with rain coming it became more difficult.
"We had planned things (for the rain) but losing wickets did not help," he said.
Jayawardene heaped praise on his bowlers for restricting the hosts to a total less than 200.
"We bowled well, made full use of the pitch and got early breakthroughs. A total of 180 was very achievable, but losing a couple of wickets early made the difference," he said.
Jayawardene said they badly needed to improve their batting to win the next two matches.
"We have to win both the games. If we get our batting sorted out, we have a very good chance," he said.
Topics mentioned in this article
Cricket Michael Hussey
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