Mohali, Nov 2 : Dismayed at the team's inability to chase down a modest 251-run target, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today blamed his batsmen for the 24-run defeat against Australia, saying they simply failed to complement the effort of their bowling colleagues.

Dhoni said restricting Australia to a 250-run on a wicket that promised a run-feast was no mean achievement but lack of partnerships in the Indian batting line-up allowed Australia to level the series 2-2.

"I think it was a good effort by the bowlers to stop them to a total like 250. We got a decent start to our chase also but subsequently, we failed as a batting unit," Dhoni told after the match.

"We should have batted full 50 overs but that was not possible because we kept losing wickets at regular intervals," he rued.

Chasing 251, India were skittled out for 226 in the 47th over.

Asked if Sachin Tendulkar's dismissal -- a howler by umpire Ashoka de Silva -- was the turning point of the match, Dhoni said, "there was no single turning point. We had a number of turning points in fact.

"We badly needed some partnerships going. We got the start but we could not take advantage of that. If at least one batsman got going, it would have made things easy," he added.