Yuvraj Singh in action at the Gabba on Tuesday. (Reuters)

Brisbane: Indian captain Sourav Ganguly Tuesday admitted that Zimbabwe’s late charge had given his side a fright in the tri-series match and said the weather played a big part in allowing the opposition to get “very close”.

“I didn’t expect it to be this close when they were hundred for four after 30 overs,” said Sourav after his side squeezed out a 24-run win over the African minnows under lights at the Gabba here. “After the rain the ball became very wet and runs were coming easily in the last 12 overs. They were able to get eight or nine runs per over because the bowlers were not able to hit the length and spinners were not able to grip the ball. The weather did affect and somehow they got very close.”

Sourav was not harsh on his fielders as they struggled to stop the Zimbabweans from running twos whenever they hit in the outfield. “It’s a big ground and even when we were batting, we were getting a lot of twos hitting in the deep. I admit they (fielders) have to get to the ball quicker but then they are all young boys – Irfan Pathan, Laxmipathy Balaji and Rohan Gavaskar – and they will learn.”

Sourav still made a mention of the good catching and strong throwing arms of his fielders, putting it down to good preparation they had before coming on to the tour.

“We had a good camp in Bangalore. We told ourselves if we wanted to be successful in Australia we needed good throwing arms. We were aware if we drop important catches against a good side (like Australia), we might struggle,” Sourav said. “So far (catching and throwing) in the test and one-day series has been outstanding.”

Sourav said it was more or less decided Australia and India would be contesting the finals, but he did not want to drop the guard against the world champions in the remaining two league games against them.

“We have had two close games in Melbourne and Brisbane against Australia. When two good sides play, it happens. It always boil down to 95-96 overs of equal exchanges before three or four overs decide the games.

“It has happened in the first two games and we expect it to happen for the rest of the tour. I guess we know who are going to be the finalists. But it is important how we play against them before the finals. We are looking at next two games in Sydney and Perth as critical.”

Zimbabwean captain Heath Streak lamented that his top four batsmen were still not able to come to grips with the start required despite the reshuffle he did in the line-up.

“We just wanted somebody to do the job which Rahul Dravid did for India. Somebody in the top order has to bat through. “We have shown that from over number 25 we actually bat pretty well.” (PTI)