'It hasn’t been a walk in the park for us'

Agencies

Posted online: Friday, January 18, 2008 at 2004 hrs IST

Perth, January 18:
Australian coach Tim Nielsen on Friday admitted that chasing down a target of 413 was a tough task but said his team would look to build partnerships to achieve their 17th consecutive Test win.

“There is an opportunity to be involved in a big run chase and if that’s the way to go for the record 17th win, so be it,” said Nielsen as he pondered over the remaining 348 runs which his side still needed in the second knock of the third Test against India.

“There are eight partnerships to be had and if we can break it hour by hour, it can become easy”, he said.

“The good thing is that if you can actually survive the first 10 minutes, it becomes quite a good pitch for batting.

“The outfield is quick and run-making becomes easy, so a couple of good stands and the pressure would quickly shift on the bowling pack,” he said.

Nielsen blamed it on his batsmen for the situation Australia presently finds itself in.

“We had an under par performance in the first innings. It wasn’t as if our bowlers bowled badly. But if you concede a lead of 118 runs in the first innings, it becomes difficult,” he added.

The Indians had a productive sixth wicket stand between VVS Laxman and Mahendra Singh Dhoni and it was surprising to see Australia largely operate with Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke during the period.

“We were behind our run-rate. It was silly how far we were behind as we bowled only 11 overs in the second hour.

“It was a mistake of our own making, we didn’t want to end the innings with seven overs behind and for Ricky to face the music (in terms of fine and ban)”.

Finally, Nielsen couldn’t resist a word of praise for the Indians.

“Indian have shown through the tour that they are a competitive unit. The last Test went till the final five minutes, it certainly hasn’t been a walk in the park for us,” he said.