Port Elizabeth, Mar 03: A forlorn Nasser Hussain was left assessing the ruins caused by wrecker-in-chief Andy Bichel in England`s heart-breaking defeat to Australia in a World Cup match yesterday but even in the hour of distress the skipper had words of comfort for his teammates. "We should not be ashamed of the way we have played so far," Hussain said as he sought to salvage some positives for his crestfallen teammates staring at an early elimination from the premier event. "We got stuck on a dodgy wicket the other night (against India) and we came back here and became the first team to give Australia a run for their money," Hussain said.

England had the Australians pinned down at 135 for eight before they let the advantage slip and the gritty defending champions made most of the opportunity to scrape through with a narrow two-wicket win. Andy Bichel starred in Australia`s triumph coming good both with the bat and ball.

"We played well also in Cape Town (against Pakistan) and in the warm-up games but it`s a shame we could not get one more wicket here as that would have made a very good first stage," Hussain said.

"We had them there again at eight down for not very many and it was there to be won," Hussain admitted. "We just needed one more wicket but whatever we tried we couldn`t get it. It`s very disappointing to walk off as losers and regardless of the tournament we have just been beaten by Australia again."

Bureau Report