Johannesburg, Dec 17: Following his side’s eight-wicket loss to India in the first ODI, South African skipper Aiden Markram said that Indian bowlers used the lateral movement while bowling really well and put Proteas behind right from the first ball.
“Tough one (the loss). We would have liked to put on a really good score batting first. Credit to their bowling attack with the lateral movement. We were not even allowed to settle and build a partnership. The problem was right from the start and could not pull things back. (Misread the pitch?) We expected it to go around a little bit. Generally in the day games it does do something for 5-7 overs, we have seen that before. But today it went along for longer and we couldn’t get in and build partnerships,” said Markram. “We encourage guys to be positive but also choose smart options. We will have to assess,” he added. (Agencies)