Rain breaks, chances to Miller cost us the game, says Dhawan
Opener Shikhar Dhawan said twin rain breaks coupled with reprieves to David Miller cost India dearly as South Africa brought an halt to the visitor's rampaging ODI run with a five-wicket win in the fourth ODI.
Miller was given two lives -- a dropped catch in the deep and then was bowled off a no ball off Yuzvendra Chahal. He was on 6 and 7 not out respectively, and then went on to make 39 off 28 balls.
"The main reason was, of course, the dropped catch and then a wicket off noball. From there the momentum changed. Otherwise we were in very good position," Dhawan said at the post match press conference late Saturday night. "Of course rain had an impact too. Our spinners couldn't turn the ball or grip the ball the way they did in the last three matches. It makes a difference when the ball gets wet. That's the reason," added the left-hander.
Considerable amount of time, to be precise 53 minutes, were lost during India's innings as rain first stopped play when the visitors were placed at 200 for 2. Although no overs were cut, India lost the momentum and only finished at 289 for 7. Later another rain break meant 113 minutes were lost during South Africa's innings and the match was reduced to 28 overs with 202 being set as the revised target.
"We took the decision to bat first because in the evening the ball moves here. There's also the effect of the breeze and it can have an impact," said Dhawan, who scored a century in his 100th ODI. "Of course, we were batting in a flow when the rain came and our flow was broken. After that I got out. Then the runs didn't come at the same pace. But that doesn't mean the total was bad. But once it rained again, the outfield became wet." Dhawan said Miller grabbed the lives with both hands and changed the complexion of the game.
Dhawan said it is important to go through failures in life to learn lessons and Chahal and Yadav should take it in their stride and look ahead. He also backed Kohli's to not hand Bhuvi and Bumrah.