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Rough treatment Australia struggling in final warmup match
Updated: Thursday February 22, 2001 12:46 PM
BOMBAY (Reuters) -- Australia coach John Buchanan said his bowlers were weary and star leg-spinner Shane Warne was unlucky after they received some rough treatment on the opening day of their three-day game against Mumbai (Bombay) on Thursday. "Overall, he (Warne) is probably disappointed with his own bowling," said Buchanan. "But he bowled well at certain times and then had some misfortune with edges going to the boundary." Australia's bowlers got off to a good start before fading against aggressive batting by tailenders on the first day of its second warm-up game against Mumbai. Warne came in for harsh treatment, hit for 81 off 19 overs for one wicket, as Mumbai recovered from five for 82 at one stage to run up 328 for nine at the close. "The guys are still a bit tired and jaded, but I am not making excuses," Buchanan added. Pace spearhead Glenn McGrath, playing his first tour game, took three for 46 after claiming two wickets in the morning session but gave up runs in the final session. Captain Sameer Dighe top-scored with 84, while Sairaj Bahutule (51) and Ramesh Powar (65 not out) also scored half-centuries as Mumbai put up a strong show despite Indian batting star Sachin Tendulkar opting out of the game. "The batsmen played quite well," said Buchanan. "It would have been nice to clean up the innings but we've learned a lot from what we've gone through today." He said his team now looked forward to a lengthy batting session. "We'll be looking to bat as long and aggressively as we can to get batting practice that I think we really need." Former test batsman Ashok Mankad, the Mumbai coach, said too much could not be read into the way Australia's bowlers toiled in the afternoon. "To be fair to the Australian bowling, we cannot judge them from their performance here. They are just trying to get into rhythm," he said. Waugh injured Australia suffered a blow when batsman Mark Waugh suffered a hand injury going for a catch at second slip. "He got three stitches on his finger. He has split the webbing in his hand," said coach John Buchanan. Buchanan said it was unlikely that Mark Waugh would bat Friday. "But with the stitches and his amazing prowess for recovery we hope he'll be ready in time for the first test," he added.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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