Zampa blames lack of intensity for slow over rate

Adam Zampa has cited the unique demands of 50-over cricket for the errors and tardiness exhibited by both teams in yesterday's batter-dominated opening match of the Dettol ODI Series at the SCG.

Australia's 66-run win was underpinned by centuries to Aaron Finch and Steve Smith and the bowling feats of Zampa and Josh Hazlewood despite the best batting efforts of India pair Shikhar Dhawan and Hardik Pandya.

But there was also a raft of muffed catches and misfields, some wildly erratic bowling and a ponderous over rate that saw India finish their bowling innings almost 45 minutes late and the match run an hour overtime, wrapping up at 11.10pm local time.

Under ICC Playing Conditions revised for the newly introduced Cricket World Cup Super League, teams failing to meet their over rate requirement will lose one championship point for each over they fall short of their requirement, if adjudicated to have been at fault by the match referee.

Australia earned 10 points for last night's win, lifting them to second place on the Super League table behind reigning world champions England who share the same points total but boast a superior net run rate.

Zampa admitted it was difficult to pinpoint why both teams were so demonstrably rusty yesterday, especially in the field, given many of the players involved had been playing regular cricket at the Indian Premier League in the months leading into the international season.

But the 28-year-old believes the challenge of maintaining on-field intensity in the 50-over game is different to what is required in the four and five-day first-class formats and the explosive T20 competitions.

"You saw how sloppy both sides were in the field, and that probably had a lot to do with the intensity and it does take a long while to get back in the swing of things, particularly in ODI cricket," Zampa said today.

"The guys who have played Test cricket, you can kind of take your time, and T20 is a hard and fast game that’s over and done with pretty quick.

"One-day cricket is in between and it’s one of those ones where if you haven’t played for a while, the intensity isn’t quite there.

"Obviously we had hard quarantine (after returning from the IPL) and I wouldn't want to make excuses for anyone.

"But it’s really hard to imitate the pressure of one-day cricket, and the best way to do it is when you are together as a squad and you do fielding sessions and the intensity of the training is probably at that international standard.

"It was a little bit different with the 14 days in hard quarantine.

"We were allowed out for a few hours per day, but I don’t think you can really imitate the pressure and intensity of international cricket.

"I think it will definitely improve, and hopefully after getting those cobwebs out and getting those miles in the legs you’ll see some more intensity in the next two games."

India captain Virat Kohli noted his team's energy in the field appeared to flag midway through Australia's batting innings, as the home team capitalised on the lapses to post a hefty total of 6-374.

And Steve Smith, named player of the match for his 105 from 66 balls, claimed he couldn't recall a day of international cricket that seemed to take as long as yesterday's nine-hour epic.

"It felt like it went all day," Smith said of the first of three day-night ODI encounters that will be followed by tomorrow's match at the SCG and the final game at Manuka Oval in Canberra on Wednesday.

"That's the longest 50 overs I've had in the field, that's for sure.

"I don't know what to put it down to."

Zampa was among those guilty of a fielding lapse, with his dropped catch early in the innings of India's best batter, Kohli, threatening to swing the game until he was dismissed several overs later.

However, it was Zampa's bowling that proved most influential in the final result as he returned 4-54 from his 10 overs including the key wickets of Dhawan (74) and Pandya (90), both caught in the deep by Mitchell Starc.

In a year when ODI fixtures have been few and far between, Zampa is clearly the format's leading wicket-taker for 2020 with 24 at an average of 22.25, six more than West Indies seamer Alzarri Joseph.

"He's been fantastic for a long time now as our number-one spinner in the white-ball formats," Finch said of Zampa after yesterday's game.

"Getting good players out under pressure is what it's all about.

"You have to take wickets to win games, and he certainly did that."

Dettol ODI Series v India 2020

Australia ODI squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey , Pat Cummins (vc), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Sams, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

India ODI squad: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur.

First ODI: Australia won by 66 runs

Second ODI: November 29, SCG, 2.40pm AEDT

Third ODI: December 2, Manuka Oval, 2.40pm AEDT

*The matches and travel remain subject to any relevant government restrictions or requirements