He is elated that the strategy worked out in the dressing room was executed to perfection on the field in the opening ODI against India but South African captain AB de Villiers wants his teammates to remain grounded as he feels the visitors will bounce back in the remaining two games.
“...It doesn’t mean that we are certainly going to win the series. There is a lot of hard work to be done. Durban will be a lot more suited to the Indians and they can bounce back. So it is important to keep our feet on the ground,” he added,” said de Villiers in a post-match press conference.
Despite the hammering his batsmen handed out to Indian bowlers, de Villiers felt the visitors can’t be called bad. “India are certainly not a poor bowling line up. They do have the skill but they bowled a little bit short in the first five or ten overs. That gave us a big boost and confidence, and some momentum going forward,” he said.
“Not losing wickets in the first 10 overs at the Wanderers is always huge, no matter how many runs you score. It sets you up nicely for the last 40 overs and that is what happened today. It is quite handy keeping wickets in hand especially against a team like India,” said de Villiers.
With this win, the hosts go 1-0 up in the three-match ODI series. The focus now shifts to the second ODI in Durban on Sunday and Team India will be under immense pressure not to concede the series there itself. “It was certainly very important for us to start off the series like that. It is not easy for sub-continental teams to tour South Africa. It is important to never allow them to get any momentum going ahead.