MS Dhoni blames the top-order batsmen after the loss – Cricket News Update
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 at Kolkata and has blamed his top-order batsmen for a poor show.
The visitors had dismantled the Men in Blue in the opening fixture at Chennai by six wickets and have wrapped up the series by winning the second match by a handsome margin of 85 runs. The last ODI of the tour is going to be played
on Sunday at http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Delhi-c780, with the home team playing only for pride.
Having won the toss, Dhoni opted to bowl first on a track, which was expected to assist the seamers earlier on. However, the decision did not turn out to be a very good one initially as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Hafeez-c76898, the two Pakistan
openers, put on a century stand.
At one stage, it looked as if the Green Shirts would run away with the show and might post a score of more than 300 on the board. However, the Indian bowlers did well to restrict the visitors to merely 250 runs.
In reply, the strong Indian batting line-up failed to live up to the expectations and were bowled out for just 165 runs in 48 overs.
After the match, the wicketkeeper/batsman expressed his satisfaction over the performance of his bowlers and said that the batsmen should have chased down this total.
"The bowlers brought us back into the game," Dhoni said. "The spinners in the second half of the first innings bowled well and the faster bowlers made most of the bounce available off the pitch. But when we went into bat, we lost too
many wickets."
The skipper understands that his side needs a true all-rounder, who can contribute with both bat and ball. Dhoni further added that the Men in Blue have got to stop over-relying on the top-order batsmen.
"What we're looking at is somebody who can fill in the gap -- a genuine allrounder to bring in the balance in the side. Lower-order contribution is also very important especially when you're chasing," the Indian captain added.
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