Short-ball strategy not wrong, says debutant Dala

CENTURION: An important piece of statistic in the previous match on Sunday was that 33% of the runs by Shikhar Dhawan (72) were scored off pull shots, laying emphasis once again on whether South Africa’s shortpitched bowling strategy failed against Virat Kohli’s men.

Junior Dala, South Africa’s debutant pacer, who opened the bowling admitted that they failed to assess the wicket early and India could judge the wicket as they bowled second and could adjust. to pop up. It’s not lack of practice or motivation and determination to do well,” T20 skipper JP Duminy said after the loss at the Wanderers on Sunday. “Unfortunately, it just hasn’t gone our way and I can guarantee you the guys will be out there tomorrow and the next day trying to correct it,” he said.

On Tuesday, the eve of the second T20, which the Proteas must to win to keep the series alive going into the final game, the focus at training was on catching.

Eight to nine players were spread close to the boundary as they were given high catches. The drill went on for close to an hour.

The Proteas, considered some of the most athletic and acrobatic in the game, have been inconsistent in their catching. Farhaan Behardien twice dropped easy catches at the boundary in the first T20 while Rohit Sharma got a life during his century in the Port Elizabeth ODI.

Spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, who dropped that sitter from Rohit, and Khaya Zondo are the others to offer lives to India batsmen. Andile Phehlukwayo has let a few balls go past him to the boundary.

South Africa pacer, Junior Dala, who made his debut on Sunday, denied the fielding standard has dipped. “Fielding is a personal pride thing. The coaches can only give us the tools. How you handle the pressure on the day is what matters. I don’t thing we emphasised much on the fielding. Basically, it was a fun drill. From the outside, it looked like we are focusing on outfield, but it was more a fun drill. Our fielding is in a good place.”

The Indians, on their part, had no worries. They chose to stay in their rooms.

“When you play T20 cricket, you have to assess the wicket very early. We sort of had a game-plan and we all stuck to it. The Indians also saw us bowl. So in hindsight, they saw what we did and how the wicket was and could adjust.

“We backed our game-plan, whether it was wrong or right. It is something we truly believed in. If they were four down, we wouldn’t have talked about it,” said Dala.

Dala toed the line that South Africa skipper JP Duminy had taken – that there is nothing wrong with the game-plan of bowling short balls and it is just

“We just need to be a lot more proactive. In the first three overs, if there are a lot of cut balls or pull balls, maybe we change it a bit lot sooner,” he said.

Dala said the biggest challenge is to communicate any change in strategy quickly.

“In T20 cricket, it is so difficult to convey a message or communicate. It is something we can improve on. We are a young side and we can get caught up with the moment.”

Dala also conceded that he felt a bit nervous.

“I was a bit nervous. Maybe, it was too much adrenaline.”