Dhoni feels India didn’t cope with the pressure

2015 World Cup

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said his team could not cope with the pressure of a big run-chase as they succumbed to a 95-run defeat against co-hosts Australia in the World Cup semi-final in Sydney on Thursday.

Australia, who won the toss, batted first and posted an imposing total of 328 for seven in their allotted 50 overs. The innings was built around a majestic century from Steve Smith, batting at number three.

The Asian team then got off to a good start in their pursuit to reach their second consecutive World Cup final, as openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan put on 76 inside 13 overs.

Dhawan in particular was looking dangerous, but in the 13th over, when on 45, he went for one shot to many as he was caught on the cover boundary off the bowling of James Faulkner.

The wicket sparked a mini-collapse and India never recovered as the required-rate kept increasing. They were eventually bowled out for 233 as Australia march on to the final to face fellow co-hosts New Zealand at the MCG on Sunday.

After the match, Dhoni said: "I felt we got off to a very good start. Shikhar's dismissal to some extent was slightly on the softer side because that was the time he could have milked the Australian bowling.

"He was scoring quite freely and with the open field, he should have just batted for a few more overs and he didn't really need to play a big shot.

"But overall, there is pressure when you're chasing 320 runs and we have seen in cricket that pressure makes you do things you don't really want to do."

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