Rare misses from Smith costly in ODI loss

Catches win matches is an old adage but a true one and Steve Smith missed two golden chances in the first ODI against India.

Australia have been left to rue two missed catches by skipper Steve Smith after losing the first one-day international to India in Chennai.

In an uncharacteristic display the usually reliable Smith fluffed two chances at slip, which ultimately proved costly.

Smith dropped Rohit Sharma on four in the fifth over.

While the Indian vice-captain only added a further 24, Australia's eventual losing margin was 26 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method.

More galling was missing the opportunity to get rid of man-of-the-match Hardik Pandya on 13.

He went on to smash the Australian bowling, taking a particular shine to legspinner Adam Zampa, on his way to 83 of 66.

"You always want to take your catches," Smith said.

"Obviously I dropped one early and then there was the one that yorked me as well.

"Hardik Panya's one I couldn't quite get my hands underneath of it unfortunately."

Smith, Travis Head, Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell all dropped straight-forward chances in the tourists' only warm-up match against an Indian Board President's XI.

While Smith continued in that vein in game one, Maxwell recovered to take a one-handed screamer at backward point which dismissed Virat Kohli four a duck.

Maxwell defied gravity with a vertical leap and the ball stuck in his outstretched left hand to silence the adoring crowd.

Australia's loss puts them one-nil down ahead of Thursday's match in Kolkata, the second of five ODIs.

"We've got to come back hard in a couple of days time," Smith said.


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Source: AAP



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