SA vs IND: ‘So much to learn from this defeat, don’t know if wicket changed drastically’ says Rahul
SA vs IND: KL Rahul, India’s stand-in ODI captain, said on Wednesday that team will learn from their loss to South Africa in the first ODI.
South Africa defeated India by 31 runs in the opening ODI of the three-match series, thanks to hundreds from Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen and a spirited bowling performance. Only Shikhar Dhawan (79), Shardul Thakur (50*), and Virat Kohli (51) got going with the bat for India, and the rest of the team struggled.
“It was a nice game. There’s so much to learn. We started off really well, we couldn’t get wickets in the middle. We’ll look to see how we get wickets in the middle overs and stop the opposition. The middle-order couldn’t get going. We were on par for the first 20-25 overs of the game. I thought we would chase it down easily but SA bowled really well and got crucial wickets,” said Rahul after the game.
SA vs IND: India’s middle-order folds as South Africa win the first ODI by 31 runs;
“I didn’t bat after the 20th overs, I don’t know if the wicket changed drastically. Virat and Shikhar told that it was a good wicket to bat on, you just had to spend some time in the middle, unfortunately, we couldn’t get the partnership going,” he added.
As South Africa reached 296/4 earlier, Rassie van der Dussen (129*) and Temba Bavuma (110) were the bright lights with the bat. Bavuma and van der Dussen put on a 204-run fourth-wicket stand, the second-highest by a South African duo in one-day internationals against India.
“They did really well, they put pressure on the bowlers and we couldn’t get those wickets in the middle. 290+ was 20 runs extra, but we just needed more partnerships in the middle. Every game is important for us, we all want to go out there and give our best performances,” said Rahul.
“We haven’t played one-day cricket for a while, we have the WC in mind and we want to get the best XI on the park. We’ll make mistakes but we’ll learn from them,” he added.
The hosts have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with their victory. On Friday, the second One-Day International will be played at the same venue.