Mohali: As Australia rode a powerful batting effort to defeat India by four wickets in the fourth On-Day International (ODI) and level the five-match series at 2-2, here on Sunday, Virat Kohli felt Ashton Turner’s 43-ball 84-run knock made the difference between the two sides.
Despite posting a mammoth 358/9, India suffered defeat, thanks to Usman Khawaja (91), Peter Handscomb (117) and Turner who faced the Indian bowling attack bravely and hammered them all around the park. Chasing a target of 359 runs, Peter Handscomb’s maiden ODI century and half-centuries from Khawaja and Turner took the visitors past the line with 13 balls to spare.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Kohli said Ashton’s innings was the game-changer.
The Indian skipper also credited the opponents for being perfect in every department of the game. “They played better cricket, they deserved to win,” he said. The 30-year-old also said dew played a crucial part in the game as it got difficult to bowl in the final moments of the contest.
“We had to get the fifth bowler out of the way and we wanted to get done with it first. It became too wet to bowl. It was difficult to bowl in the right areas. Crucial, we were sloppy in the field and should’ve grabbed our chances.”
“It’s going to be a cracker of a game, we’ve had two eye-openers in two games. We have to work hard and we got to come up with more intensity and passion in the next game,” he said.
Turner, who was adjudged ‘man of the match’ for his ferocious knock in the dying moments, said: “I’m lost for words. I had a lot of confidence. I thought India played really well and it was a great game of cricket.”
“Batting is lot of fun. There were a few close calls and I knew I didn’t nick that one. Very fortunate,” he remarked.