South Africa coach Gibson says boys did not live up to expectations

Africa coach Ottis Gibson blamed his batsmen for the series loss to India. The Proteas went down to India by 73 runs to trail 1-4 in the six-match series with one match to go.

Gibson said he was positive despite the team missing its stars.

“I thought at the halfway stage we gave ourselves a very good chance to keep ourselves in the series. We came this afternoon very optimistic that the series was still there to be drawn. To bowl them out for 270-odd was a great effort from the bowlers, and we let ourselves down with the bat. There’s not a lot more to say than that. It’s something we have been talking about for five games now. We showed at the Wanderers that we can play better than we have done, but tonight (Tuesday) was disappointing.”

Gibson said that although he has a set of players who he believes are capable of winning and can adapt to certain conditions, they just didn’t live up to expectations.

“You want to have a group of players who can adapt to certain conditions and play accordingly. We know we have those players but they haven’t produced it in this series, which is disappointing. The way we have played as a group at certain times has been disappointing but especially tonight (Tuesday) because there was still a lot to play for in the series,” he added.

Asked why the hosts have struggled to get the Indian top order out, Gibson said that they haven’t controlled the length.

“The Indian top order is very experienced and they’ve played well. They’ve seen off the new ball or been able to score freely. We haven’t been able to hold the length very well.”

PORTELIZABETH:South