Stop being crybabies. Australia had two games abandoned in the Champions Trophy, yet they did not cry about it.
If the match against India or Australia was washed out, none would have complained. Most would have been content with gaining one point.
They did actually “cry” about it.
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Australia captain Steve Smith directed his frustration at the Oval’s groundsmen after rain denied his side a much-needed Champions Trophy win over Bangladesh.
The abandonment was particularly galling as Australia appeared so close to victory, having already seen their opening game against New Zealand washed out on Friday.
Bangladesh were bowled out for a lowly 182 and Smith’s side were looking comfortable at 83 for one when rain stopped play just before 6.45pm.
They were also just four overs short of the 20 needed for the Duckworth-Lewis method to be activated, which almost certainly would have ruled in Australia’s favour.
The weather did ease at around 8pm and an announcement was made that the game would restart at 8.30pm once the groundsmen had removed the covers from the pitch.
The rain, however, returned before the field was ready and the match was finally called off around an hour later.
“It’s a little bit frustrating not to get a result in,” Smith said.
“The groundsmen perhaps could have shown a bit more urgency with it being a big tournament, but I think they did the best job they could.
“The umpires said it was an 8.30pm start so you have to do what they say.”
Both teams seemed acutely aware of the 20-over mark approaching, as Bangladesh appeared keen to slow the game down while Smith and David Warner, both at the crease, adopted defensive shots perhaps to speed it up.
At the end of the 16th over, however, a drinks break coincided with the umpires finally deciding to send the players off.
“Of course I didn’t want to go off,” Smith said.
“I was happy to keep playing through the rain. But the umpires are there to make a decision.
“There was a drinks break at the end of that over which probably didn’t help. If the game had carried on perhaps they would have had a different opinion. But to be fair it was raining quite heavily.”
The result leaves Australia with two points after two games played in Group A and almost certainly needing to beat England in their final game to reach the semi-finals.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, would have been eliminated if they had been beaten here, but the abandonment keeps their faint hopes of progress alive.
Their captain Mashrafe Mortaza was unapologetic for his side’s lucky escape, pointing to Australia avoiding defeat in similar circumstances against New Zealand.
“In today’s match Australia was far ahead of us, but in the last match against New Zealand, Australia were in the same position [as us] so you can’t do anything with the weather,” Mortaza said.
“Both teams are now in the situation that Australia has to win against England and we have a great chance against New Zealand to go through so let’s see what happens.”
Bangladesh had Tamim Iqbal to thank after he followed up his 128 against England last week by scoring 95, before eventually falling to Mitchell Starc.
Starc was the pick of the Australian attack after taking four for 29 before Warner passed 4,000 one-day international runs in his 93rd innings, the fastest Australian to do so.
https://talksport.com/sport/cricket...-after-champions-trophy-washout-170605241930/
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