BRIAN LARA SPEAKS ON WHY THE WEST INDIES LOST TO AUSTRALIA TODAY

'We have to dig deep and put this behind us' - Lara
Brian Lara, the West Indies captain spoke to the media at the end of the first match of the DLF Cup, after his side let the match slip from their grasp despite holding a commanding position earlier on
On the scarcely believable collapse
"It was a bit difficult to comprehend but these things do happen. We were on course to victory, and we found a way to lose. It was not really happening. We have to dig deep and put this behind us. We still have three games at least to go in this tournament, and everyone knows where we went wrong. No one apart from the top three got into double figures."
On how he looked at the match
"This wasn't a 279-pitch. The ball seamed around a fair bit, and if we had conceded 30-40 runs less, we would have been more comfortable. Then, Chris Gayle and Chanderpaul put us in a very good position, taking advantage of some loose bowling from the Australians. We knew the new ball would do a bit and the experience of Glenn McGrath would play its part. The idea was to play off the new ball and then go after their less experienced bowlers, but Gayle and Chanderpaul started even earlier than expected, which was good for us. Unfortunately, we couldn't cash in on that start. Having Chanderpaul at the top is an asset to us, and hopefully, he will continue to do the job for us as an opener."
On what separates the Australians from the rest
"They have the winning habits. They see themselves as winning from any position. They are the world champions, and they came fighting till the end. Even when our openers were going strong, they appeared confident that they could do the job. They left six or seven of their key players on the sidelines and still won the match. They are beatable, but you must give them credit for the way they fought and won today