🏏India vs South Africa: 1st ODI🏏 - Page 22

Originally posted by: Bee222

Sharam karo middle order wale

Bowler ne half century kar diya aur tumlog 20 tak nahi pohunch paye 🤔

Seriously, they all need to doob maring in chullu bhar paani mein

Originally posted by: evilxbalaa

So it finishes in one day?

Yup it finished just now with India losing 😭

2 more matches to go in this series now..

Originally posted by: SoniRSippu21

Seriously, they all need to doob maring in chullu bhar paani mein

Doob to waise bhi rahe hai

Ab thoda tairna seekh jaye to accha rahega 🤔

KL Rahul- "There's so much to learn, KL Rahul says. "We started really well and couldn't get wickets in the middle. I didn't bat after the 20th over so I don't know if the pitch changed, but Virat and Shikhar said it was a good wicket to bat on once you were set. Unfortunately we couldn't get those partnerships in the middle."

It was a game that India should have had in the bag given how they were cruising at one stage. In both innings in fact, they let the advantage slip out of their grasp having first reduced South Africa to 68/3 before an incredible resurrection led by Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen set up a 297-run target.

In what was a seamless stand of 79, Dhawan put away the loose deliveries to the fence while Kohli followed soon after with a half century. In between the two milestones though, both the batsmen were put down as the hosts managed to bag three wickets in as many overs. It was a comeback effort for the visitors to even take the game close.

Eventually, it was too tall an ordeal as a couple more wickets fell at regular intervals. India managed to bat out the 50 overs but that was just about all they could salvage, barring Shardul Thakur notching up his maiden ODI half-century. Thakur put up an unbeaten stand of 51 off 48 deliveries along with Jasprit Bumrah but the game was way beyond their reach. The middle-order failed to rise up to the occasion and that ended up costing India this contest.

Due credit to skipper Bavuma and all of his plans though - they just worked like a charm alright! From Markram opening the bowling to Ngidi and Phehlukwayo being held back for their change ups to come into effect once the ball got softer, everything South Africa did turned into gold. The wicket did end up two-paced later on but the shot selection of the Indian batters left a lot to be desired. Quite a bit to work on with regards to that aspect before they return to try and attain series parity in a couple of days' time at this very venue.

KL Rahul (India Captain): We started off really well but we didn't get wickets in the middle, we will look to see how we can stop the opposition in those middle overs and obviously the middle order couldn't get going, we got a good start, we were on par for the first 20 - 25 overs, thought we will chase it down comfortably. I didn't bat on for 20 overs, I honestly don't know how the pitch behaved but speaking to Virat and Shikhar said it was easy to bat on, just had to spend time in the middle and runs were easy to come, unfortunately we didn't string partnerships later on. Two players in the oppositions when they get hundreds, you more often get close to 300 which they did, we needed someone like that, take it deep and chase it down. Every game is important to us, we go out there, try and win the game for our country, give our best. We have the World Cup in mind, getting the best players in the park, it's always a great learning.

Temba Bavuma (South Africa Captain): I think it was close to a perfect game. We'll look to take the confidence forward into the coming games. Throughout the innings I struggled to hit the gaps. Rassie was batting on another wicket - the energy he brought in gave our innings a different impetus. The plan was to try and partner him as much as I can. From a mental point of view, it was to give him the energy that he needed. Another good debut for Marco. Obviously he's someone who can take wickets with the new ball, come in the middle-overs and bowl at the death. He's going from strength to strength. Aiden offers an extra option with the ball - especially with the new ball he can get it to skid on. Andile was also good - obviously he would have loved to have played a bigger part in the game but he understands the situation of the game. He's a big part of our team. Good to see him take charge of the situation. Our spinners have been great - Keshav was great and Shamsi was trying to use the crease. Nice to have Quinny back and lovely to see him laugh and smile in the changing room. Like I've said before he's a big player for me and the team - his energy, leadership and experience helps us a lot.

Rassie van der Dussen (Player of the Match, has to crouch big time to speak into a low-rise microphone): The key for me was to just up the intensity. I knew that I had to go for my sweeps and reverse-sweeps early on and put pressure on the spinners. It was important to just show the intent from the start and we got a partnership going on a good batting wicket. We got the momentum and put up a good score. As a unit, we were quite confident coming into this match. We've played a bit of cricket here and we felt that 285+ would put us in a good position. When Shikhar and Virat were in there, they were in the game. We had to get them out and the new batters were going to find it difficult to find their feet. Maybe we could have done better in the last ten overs as far as our bowling is concerned but that's something we can work on going forward. We've been on a long journey with this team - our world-class coaching staff has put in a lot of hard work. We know how we want to be on and off the field and how we want to conduct ourselves. I think that's coming in from Temba and the attitude that we have as a team.

Originally posted by: Bee222

Sharam karo middle order wale

Bowler ne half century kar diya aur tumlog 20 tak nahi pohunch paye 🤔

Nahi i disagree. Top order eats balls and then gives required run rate of 7+ on difficult wicket to inexperienced middle order. No middle order can survive such a thing. It happens every match

Originally posted by: Bee222

Yup it finished just now with India losing 😭

2 more matches to go in this series now..

Oh no i thought they were gonna win😲

when is next one?