Bangalore, Nov 13: Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly faulted the performance of the bowlers, especially in the initial and final overs, for the team's poor showing against Australia on Wednesday even though he felt the match was a close affair. ''It was good wicket to bat and anything around 300 was a good score. We conceded too many runs in the last 10 overs and in the first few. On the whole I would say the match was very close in the last fifteen overs,'' Ganguly told reporters at the post-match media conference.
''It is one thing to make strategies but what you do in the middle is what counts. Giving room to a batsman like Adam Gilchrist is just not done,'' he said.
India, chasing a target of 348 in 50 overs, ended at 286 for eight.
Australian captain Ricky Ponting, while agreeing that the wicket was a good one to bat on, felt that the game was closer in the 25th over, when Sachin Tendulkar was batting.
''It was a very good wicket. The ball came on and the bounce was even all through the day. I was not worried in the 40th over but around the 25th over when Sachin was going.''
''We have been four down for 50 and 60 a couple of times in this tournament already. The guys really applied themselves today and we got the partnerships that we needed,'' Ponting said of the batting performance.
The bowlers too played their part by containing Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag in the initial overs, putting India under pressure all through, he observed.
On Gilchrist's knock of 111, Ponting said, ''it is one of the better knocks i have seen him play. It was chanceless. He set the pace so that the guys in the middle order could finish things off.''
Bureau Report