Strong batting by the home captain Temba Bavuma (110) and Rasi van der doosen (129 not out) took South Africa to a match-winning score of 296 for four as the Indian bowlers struggled to pick up wickets.
Rahul said, “It was a good game. There is a lot to learn. We started really well, we could not take wickets in the middle. We will see how we get wickets in the middle overs and stop the opposition. Huh.” Said at the presentation ceremony after the match.
India chased, Rahul himself Rishabh Pant (16), Shreyas Iyer (17) and Venkatesh Iyer (2) Couldn’t contribute much.
“The middle order couldn’t progress. We were tied for the first 20-25 overs of the game. I thought we would get through it easily but South Africa bowled really well and got important wickets,” said Rahul.
When asked to comment on the wicket, the India captain said, “I didn’t bat after the 20th over, I don’t know if it has changed much. Virat and Shikhar said it was a good one to bat on.” The wicket was there, you just did it to spend some time in the middle, unfortunately we could not partner.”
“They (South Africa) did really well, they put pressure on the bowlers and we couldn’t get those wickets in the middle. 290+ 20 runs to spare, but we needed more partnerships in the middle.”
Rahul also said that he hasn’t played one-day cricket for a while but has the 2023 World Cup on his mind.
Referring to the World Cup, he said, “We want to have the best XI in the park. We will make mistakes but we will learn from them.”
Meanwhile, home captain Bavuma said they played “close to a perfect game”.
“It’s pretty tough in 50-over cricket. We can take a lot of confidence. I struggled throughout the innings, the rope seemed like another wicket to bat on. That partnership was decisive,” he said.
Talking more about his partnership with van der Dussen, he said, “I tried to partner with him as much as I could.”
He also praised pacer Marco Jensen, who didn’t take a wicket but impressed.
“Another good debut for him (Janssen), we think he can take wickets with the new ball. He’s going from strength to strength and that’s good to see. Aiden is always an option with the ball, especially With the new ball. He has been doing a fantastic job.”
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