Smith says spark was lacking in SA team

london — Former South African captain Graeme Smith on Monday expressed disappointment over the Proteas’ loss against India which knocked them out of the ongoing Champions Trophy cricket tournament.

India on Sunday rode on a superb bowling show to thump South Africa by eight wickets to become the first team from Group B to enter the semifinals of the tournament.

Disciplined Indian bowling bowled out South Africa for 191 runs in 44.3 overs at The Oval. India chased down the target in 38 overs with eight wickets to spare. Smith opened up on his team’s form and current performance and said the Proteas missed the spark in the prestigious tournament.

“I left the ground on Sunday feeling as many South African fans will be feeling. Disappointment that the team haven’t managed to recreate the form and the brand of cricket that have seen them be so successful in white ball cricket over the past 12-18 months,” Smith wrote in a column for International Cricket Council’s website on Sunday.

“I still care deeply about the environment that I spent so much time building as a player, and it hurt to see such an unrecognisable South Africa performance.

“The side have been missing that spark, or that intensity to their play that characterises South Africa cricket,” he added.

The veteran batsman also expected his side’s top order batsmen to put pressure on Indian pacers from the onset of the game.

“What I would have liked to have seen from the guys at the top of the order is, at least, an attempt to put Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar under pressure,” Smith said.

“Anything to put them off their game and bring their plans in to question. Our approach was far more conservative, and if you’re going to play that way, you can’t afford the calamities that unfolded in terms of the two mid-innings run outs. They will kill any momentum you have, and suck the energy from a dressing room,” he added. —