India outplayed us, says Lehmann

Brisbane, Dec 17:

Australian coach Darren Lehmann rued injuries to his fast bowlers but admitted that his team was outplayed by India on Day One of the second cricket Test at the Gabba here Wednesday.

India reached 311 for four at stumps riding on Murali Vijay’s 144. The Indian right-handed opener was brilliant as he stroked his fifth Test career ton to put India on top. Injuries suffered by the Australian bowlers also didn’t help the hosts.

Despite the heat and the long injury list of his bowlers, Lehmann didn’t make any excuses for his bowlers, who he said were “very poor” in the final session of the day.

“(India) outplayed us today and we’ve got to get back into the game. Obviously it was very hot, we understand that as a team,” Lehmann was quoted as saying by cricket.co.au.

“But we’ve got to be better than that. In the last session we went for 160 in 30 overs, which is not what we’re about. We’ve got to get better than that. From our point of view, we don’t want any injuries. But we’ve got to cope with it and we’ve got to cope with it better than we did today.”

Australian team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris indicated just how crowded Australia’s casualty ward was at the end of the opening day.

About Mitchell Marsh, he said: “He’s got a low grade hamstring strain on his right leg. He’s unlikely (to bowl again in this match). He’s going to have a scan, we’ll try and get him on the field tomorrow and hopefully have him batting.”

Left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc also had a tough day. “His back was sore and he was getting some rib pain. We haven’t had a chance to fully assess that. It’s not a side strain and we don’t think it’s going to be anything that’ll stop him bowling, but we’ll have to look at it tonight.”

Debutant pacer Josh Hazlewood, who removed Cheteshwar Pujara (18) and vice-captain Virat Kohli (19), was tired.

“He had cramp all over his body. With every ball he bowled he was cramping up in multiple places. He’ll recover overnight and we’ll see how he wakes up tomorrow. We expect him to bowl tomorrow.” (IANS)