Visakhapatnam, June 15: South Africa’s batting crumbled under pressure in the third T20I against India but skipper Temba Bavuma said it would be “foolish” to change their approach after just one loss in the five-match series.
Chasing 180 to win, South Africa had a slow start as they could manage only 15 runs in the first three overs but Bavuma said it “has always been our tactic as a team.”
“First two overs we always have a look and then we try to get some momentum going into the innings and set it up for our big power players,” he said during the post-match press conference after his team suffered a crushing 48-run loss to India.
“That is a strategy that has worked for us and I would be a bit foolish to change our approach after just one loss,” he added.
The Proteas had dominated the spinners in the first two matches but the duo of Yuzvendra Chahal (3/20) and Axar Patel (1/28) produced a scintillating show to stifle the visitors after being introduced early in the innings by skipper Rishabh Pant on Tuesday.
“I think their spinners put us under pressure and we were not able to absorb and put back the pressure as we did in the first two games. The conditions suited their spinners. Kudos to their spinners for exploiting the conditions to their favour,” he said.
“They bowled quite well, their captain got their spinners early into the game which I think made a big difference versus us. Our spinners came later on and that is a trick we missed out there on the field.
“With the batting, we were not able to get any partnership going, or any momentum going,” Bavuma added. (PTI)
