Australian middle-order batsmen Glenn Maxwell jumped into the defense of teammate David Warner following the southpaw’s slow knock against India during the blockbuster ICC World Cup 2019 clash between the two teams on Sunday. ((ICC World Cup 2019: Full Coverage))

After Indian batters put up a huge score of 352/5 in 50 overs, opener Warner hit a half-century but his strike-rate read 66.6 when he was dismissed by Yuzvendra Chahal in the 25th over.

India pacer Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar scalped three wickets each as India bundled out Australia for 316 runs, winning the match by 36 runs. Maxwell has now defended Warner’s approach in the match and blamed the conditions for it.

Also Read: Shikhar Dhawan ruled out of World Cup for three weeks

“It might be the conditions, it might be the ball,” Maxwell was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au. “It seems to be doing a little bit more than I expected over here. We all expected big 500 scores and balls to be pinging away all over the place.

“But the ball has started swinging in the 5-10 over mark rather than straight away and then stopping,” he added.

Earlier, skipper Aaron Finch admitted that Warner’s slow batting was a result of good bowling by the Indian bowlers at the Oval.

“No, it hasn’t been a plan -- a team plan or an individual plan for David (to play slowly). I think they bowled really well early,” Finch explained after the end of the match.

“They bowled nice and straight, back of the length, where the ball was just skidding quite low to start with, and they just didn’t give us any width to get away or any length to really work with, either over the top or get a drive away.

“Their bowling plans were pretty simple but really effective on a wicket like that,” Finch complemented Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah for keeping the Aussies on a tight leash at the start,” he added.

First Published: Jun 11, 2019 17:37 IST