The Herald (South Africa)

Must-win T20 match for Proteas

- Mahlatse Mphahlele

SOUTH Africa have their back to the wall and must win the second of three T20 matches against India at SuperSport Park tomorrow if they are to avoid losing the series against the visitors.

After losing the first match by 28 runs at the Wanderers on Sunday‚ the South Africans must produce an all-round improved performanc­e to tie the series and make the final encounter in Cape Town on Saturday the decider.

For the Proteas to prevail against an Indian side enjoying a good run of form‚ the batting‚ bowling and fielding must improve and stand-in captain JP Duminy said as much after the loss in Johannesbu­rg.

Reeza Hendricks (70) and Farhaan Behardien (39)‚ who combined for the fourth wicket partnershi­p of 81‚ were the only Proteas batters who made notable scores in their unsuccessf­ul chase of 204 – five other batsmen failed to reach double figures. “They gave us a chance,” Duminy said. “With wickets in hand you give yourself a chance to win. In an ideal world you would have liked to extend that partnershi­p.

“We were looking at about 14 runs an over and they needed to up the ante to take the game forward.

“I was happy to see how Reeza performed under pressure, which was exceptiona­l.

“Those are the kinds of positives we take out of this match and into the next match.

“From a batting perspectiv­e‚ that has been our achilles heel throughout this Indian tour from a short format point of view.

“As senior players and batters‚ we have to take responsibi­lity for that‚ we have to look at ourselves in the mirror and ask how can we improve.”

The Proteas never fully recovered after India managed a flying start to score 78 runs in the powerplay, including three maximums and four boundaries where the opposition exploited the bowlers’ ploy of bowling short balls upfront.

“The bowlers executed their plans very well. Where we came short was about assessing the conditions as quickly as possible‚” Duminy said.

“India are very simple and it worked for them very well.

“We are trying to find something that will work for us but we are moving in the right direction in terms of execution.

“The plan was always to try and take wickets‚ the mindset was an aggressive one but you are bound to leak runs with that kind of mindset.”

Improvemen­ts are also needed on the field as Behardien disappoint­ed by dropping Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli, with his Titans teammate Tabraiz Shamsi putting down Manish Pandey from what looked like routine catches.

“We tried but unfortunat­ely there were a few missed opportunit­ies, but we will definitely come back stronger in the next game,” Duminy said.

“I honestly don’t believe that we are dropping our heads and our body language is bad.

“I honestly believe that we were good on the field today bar the missed opportunit­ies.”

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