South Africa started the long India tour with a comfortable win on Friday in Dharamsala buoyed by JP Duminy’s 68 runs, which came from only 34 balls.
Chasing 200 runs, South Africa were home with two balls to spare and seven wickets in hand.
What looked like an India win, changed completely in the end and India captain MS Dhoni attributed that to a few phases in the game.
“There were phases in the game where it went wrong. So there were two phases of four balls in the game, which went wrong that put a lot of pressure.
“Overall when you score 200 runs, there will be a certain amount of pressure on the bowlers because the opposition will try to chase down the total too. I think the effort was good and 200 was a par score looking at everything but I think we could have done slightly better with our bowling.
You know that you would go for fours and sixes but it’s important to reduce that in those six deliveries. You have bad overs but you have to restrict it to 12-15 runs. You have to keep choking the opposition to win games like these,” he said in the post-match press conference.
Questioned if the bowlers should have done better to defend a seemingly strong target of 200, Dhoni agreed. “looking at the conditions, you could say it was war of the batsmen. You know the sides will hit the big shots but once you get hit for a big shot, how you get back and ball the next delivery is very important.”
Axar Patel’s 16th over of the innings went for 22 runs that possibly tilted the game in the Proteas’ favour but Dhoni defended him despite that. “Our spinners did bowl well. If you take the one over from Axar Patel out of contention, he bowled well. He’s someone who is otherwise consistent with the line and length. Overall the spin bowlers you need to keep in mind the conditions and the dew factor.”
The T20 also saw Sreenath Aravind getting a debut and picking a wicket in process too. “He’s not a surprise factor because he’s played the T20’s well recently. He brings in variation in bowling. The wicket was a little difficult too which didn’t go his way. Yes he did go for a few runs but against good, set batsmen, you will feel the pressure,” Dhoni finished.
‘needed a counterpunch’
At one stage, with Rohit Sharma in full flow, the game looked to be beyond South Africa but man of the match Duminy doesn’t think so. “That thought never came in our head. We had been discussing a lot about competing and we knew we needed a counterpunch. Yes, Rohit Sharma played an exceptional innings but the comeback in the last three-four overs was good from us. At one stage they were looking at 220 which would have been a winning score,” he said.