Cuttack (VNS). India defeated South Africa by 101 runs in the first T20 match played at the Barabati Stadium and took a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. Visiting team captain Aiden Markram has considered poor batting as the main reason for the defeat. Along with this, he also expressed his opinion regarding the pitch.
After losing the match, South African captain Markram said, “I think we have got some good signs. The way we started here was fantastic. We insisted on getting a good start. We achieved that target, so we can be proud of that. From a batting point of view, unfortunately, this
Such things can happen in the format. Sadly, this happened in the very first match. There is very little time left for the next match, and we will be back on the field in a few days.
Discussing the reasons behind the defeat, the captain said, “I felt the pitch was a bit sticky. There was bounce like a tennis ball. There was movement on the ball throughout the innings. We were confident that we could chase 175. You can always pick out little things and find places where you feel it would have been better to reduce it by 10-15 runs, but still 175 was a good target.”
He said, “We just had to be better with the bat, and unfortunately that did not happen. The biggest reason for the defeat was not being able to make partnerships. After the fall of the wickets, it was necessary to stabilize ourselves and bring momentum on our side. We could not do this. In this match played on Tuesday, India scored 175 runs after losing 6 wickets in 20 overs on the basis of the brilliant innings of Hardik Pandya (59 not out). In response, the South African team scored 175 runs in 12.3 overs. Was reduced to just 74 runs. Now the second match of the five-match series will be played between the two countries on December 11.
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