Smith does not feel India had advantage by staying in one city, accepts they were outplayed in CT semis

Dubai: Unlike many who believed India had the advantage of staying in one city, Australia skipper Steve Smith did not use Rohit Sharma-led team's extended stay in Dubai as an excuse for their defeat in the Champions Trophy semifinals, conceding that a superior team "outplayed" them.

Smith, who announced his retirement from the ODI format following Australia’s exit from the ICC event, said India played some really good cricket to emerge a winner on Tuesday.

"I'm not buying into it (India's familiarity with pitch and condition). India obviously played some really good cricket here. The surface kind of suits their style with the spinners that they've got," Smith said during the post-match press conference on Tuesday night.

"And they have the seamers at their disposal for a wicket like that. They played well, they outplayed us and they deserve the victory," he added.

Smith rued the fact that Australia missed the chance of posting a total close to 300 after being in a fairly strong position at 198 for four in the 37th over.

They lost Smith and Glenn Maxwell in quick succession to get restricted to an under-part 264.

"We had our opportunities throughout to post something up above 300. We were probably just that one wicket down too many at a few stages throughout the innings.

"If we extended one of those partnerships a little bit we're probably getting up 290-300 and we're putting a bit of pressure on the scoreboard."

The New South Welshman, who made a composed 73, admitted that it was not an easy wicket to bat at the DICS.

"It's clearly not the easiest wicket to bat on. The square block as a whole has seen a lot of cricket over the last couple of months. We can see it's pretty tired and that's probably the reason why we haven't seen a score above 300 in the tournament here so far."

"So, we did a reasonable job but we probably just lacked a couple of those partnerships just dragging out a little bit further to get us up somewhere near 300 or just above," he noted.

Nice to stay at same venue: Carey

Australian batter Alex Carey, who made a fine 61, said India might have benefitted by staying in Dubai, but did not miss the fact that his side put an underwhelming total on the board.

"It's probably nice to stay in the same venue and play on it three times in a row. But they're a quality team and no doubt they would have played good cricket in Pakistan as well.

"I think just setting up run chases and knowing the tempo of the game probably helps a little bit but Virat Kohli does a really good job in most venues around the world. We got to a pretty competitive target but not quite enough," said Carey in the mixed zone.

Carey said losing a set Smith and Maxwell was not ideal for Australia at a time they were looking to push the scoring rate up.

"They're two quality players and to lose them in consecutive overs is not ideal. We did see it's a tricky wicket. To come in and start wasn't easy.

"But we built to a target where I think we're able to stay in the game for a long time and maybe things go our way a little bit earlier and potentially the result goes the other way. But India played well, they timed their run chase really well," he added.