'I missed a full toss' – Smith regrets Australia's lost chances.

Smith believes his ejection was a pivotal point in Australia's semi-final loss to India.

"I missed a whole toss.  "It was not ideal." This is one of the best current batters discussing a moment that swung the game away from his team.

Steven Smith was batting on 73 in the 37th over against India, and it appeared that he would lead Australia into the death overs.  Then he went at Mohammed Shami, received a full toss at knee height, and absolutely missed it.  The off stump was shaken.

Australia scored 66 runs from the 75 balls available to them.  Alex Carey scored 61 off 57, batting with the tail in the latter stages. Nathan Ellis attempted to push some late boundaries.  However, if you are looking for a moment in the game that prepared the way for India's supremacy, this is a significant one.

"I planned to put the seamers under a little more pressure and simply rotate the spin," Smith said after the match.  "But I didn't do it particularly well.  I lost my wicket at a critical time.  Had I batted a little deeper, we could have gotten close to 300 or something.  Alex was hitting quite well on the opposite end.  It was a disappointing time to leave, but that's how things go sometimes."

Australia merely set India 265 to win.  However, given that this was the most batting-friendly surface at this location throughout the tournament, Smith lamented the missed opportunity to score big.

"I think we had our opportunities throughout to post something up above 300," Smith informed the crowd.  "We were one wicket down too many at times throughout the innings.  If we extended one of those partnerships, we'd definitely be up to 290 or 300, putting some pressure on the scoreboard.

"The square block has seen a lot of cricket in recent months. It's quite fatiguing, which is probably why we haven't seen a score beyond 300 in this competition thus far. We did a decent job, but we may have lacked a couple of those collaborations that dragged on a little longer.

Australia also performed poorly on the field.  They dropped Rohit Sharma twice and Virat Kohli at 51.  All of these were difficult opportunities, however.

"I think when you're trying to squeeze the game, and you're trying to build a lot of pressure, you need to take those chances when you've got 260 [264] on the board," Smith told ESPN.  "But that's part of the game; things happen.  No one intends to drop a catch.  "It's part of the game."