Champions Trophy: Smith rues batting effort in India defeat

The reigning world champions stumbled to their first-innings total, which was knocked off comfortably by a Virat Kohli-inspired India, who won by four wickets on Tuesday.

It saw Australia's run of 10 straight wins in their completed matches in ICC ODI events come to an end, having last lost to South Africa in October 2023 by 134 runs.

Smith's knock of 73 from 96 deliveries, with support from Marnus Labuschagne (29) and Josh Inglis (11), helped Australia lift themselves to 198-4, from 54-2 after a poor start.

But Australia's captain was sent on his way by Mohammed Shami, with Alex Carey's late flurry staving off a complete collapse, before they were bowled out for 264.

Australia were without their frontline pace trio for the tournament, with Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood sidelined by injuries and Mitchell Starc out due to personal reasons.

Smith, however, was keen to shift the blame away from his inexperienced bowling attack and instead insisted that they were not given enough help from those with the bat.

"The bowlers did a really good job. The spinners squeezed them and took the game deeper," Smith said.

"We could have put a few more runs on the board. If we had 280-plus, it could have been different. We were one wicket down too many at each stage of the game.

"It was a tricky wicket to start on."

India overcame Australia fight and pulled off a thrilling chase in the #ChampionsTrophy semi-finalMatch Highlights https://t.co/3qKx27ETbk

— ICC (@ICC) March 4, 2025

All-rounder Cooper Connolly replaced Matthew Short, who missed the semi-final through injury, while leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha was brought into the team for just his fourth ODI appearance.

"[Really proud of] the way we came together. The bowling was quite inexperienced. Some of the batters stood up," Smith added.

"The England game, they came up strong. They will continue to get bigger and better."

Smith said his team's inexperienced bowlers would be "better for the exposure", with some having played in a major tournament for the very first time.

"I think we've got pretty good records in big games in ICC events and I thought the guys turned up and did a really good job," Smith told reporters.

"They're going to be better for the exposure to a big event and playing against world-class players like the ones we came up against today and throughout the tournament.