Reeza: We can fix this
FINAL T20: ‘WE WANT TO MAINTAIN OUR GOOD FIELDING AND BUILD ON THAT’
South Africa’s batting has been at a low ebb for so long now that denial is no longer an option, but at least the Proteas have identified where their major shortcoming lay ahead of the third and final T20 international against India in Bengaluru tomorrow.
The lack of confidence that was so obvious at the World Cup was still apparent in the second T20 earlier this week when South Africa posted just 149/5, having been 87/1 after 11 overs and with every opportunity to at least double their score.
“We lost it towards the end of our innings, we were probably 20 runs short, that’s where we lost it,” opening batsman Reeza Hendricks said yesterday of the seven-wicket defeat in Mohali that means South Africa can only hope to level the series in the last match.
“We had a good start, Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma played really well and put us in a good position after 10 overs. We just needed someone at the back end to step up and take us to a more competitive total. Our bowlers did well but just didn’t have much to defend,” Hendricks said.
Without trying to con themselves that India are there for the taking, South Africa’s bowling and fielding were at least two positives they can take into tomorrow’s game. For the Proteas to extend the match all the way to the last ball of the penultimate over confirms they kept things tight in the field.
“Our fielding was very good and we want to maintain that and build on that, together with the bowling. It’s an important game and we are still positive, hopefully we can implement the changes we spoke about after the last game and deliver a better performance. We’re still enjoying ourselves so hopefully we can do that,” Hendricks said.
Runs on the board will be the key.