Smith disappointed with bowling effort

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Australia skipper Steve Smith was displeased with his team’s effort in the field in their rained off clash with New Zealand.

New Zealand were on top when the day’s second rainstorm put an end to proceedings with Australia 53/3 chasing 292 to win in 46 overs.

New Zealand looked set to get an even bigger total before a late collapse saw them slip from 254 for 3 to 291 all out.

Smith said after the clash: “I thought it was probably one of the worst bowling displays that we’ve put on for a very long time.

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“We bowled both sides of wicket. We gave them a lot of freebies. It was pretty ordinary.

“We certainly would have preferred to be in New Zealand’s position when we came off the end there. We still had a lot of work to do and they’ve got a quality bowling attack as well. So we perhaps got away with one there.”

Smith gave credit to the Kiwi batsmen, especially skipper Kane Williamson who hit 100, while saying he felt the bowling performance was down to some of the bowlers being rusty.

He added: “Let’s hope it’s rust and let’s hope it’s gone.

“Because that was, as I said, was pretty ordinary.

“But credit to them. They came out quite hard and played quite well up top. And Kane timed his innings beautifully and played really well throughout the middle.”

The result leaves both teams on one point behind England who have two after beating Bangladesh.

The washout is far from ideal for both sides and has the group poised for a tight finish.

Smith went on to say: “It’s obviously not ideal to have a washout.

“So for us now it’s about making sure that we’re playing each game like a final and winning the next two. It’s a pretty quick tournament. You can’t really afford a washout or a loss.”

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