Temba Bavuma, the captain of the Proteas, has attributed the team’s 16-run defeat to India in the second T20 international, played on Sunday in Guwahati, on the bowlers’ poor performance.
In order to tie the series, South Africa needed to score a record 238 runs. However, they fell 16 runs short and lost their first-ever T20 series played in India.
Quinton de Kock struggled to 69 not out (48 balls, 3×4, 4×6) and David Miller hit a magnificent unbeaten 106 (47 balls, 8×4, 7×6), but it wasn’t enough to bring home the total.
In India’s innings, which was led by Suryakumar Yadav (61 not out off 22 balls), KL Rahul (57 off 28 balls), Virat Kohli (49 not out off 28 balls), and Rohit Sharma, the bowling unit—particularly the seamers—failed to strike the proper lines or lengths (43 off 37 balls).
“The circumstances weren’t ideal, therefore it wasn’t our finest performance. Our ideas couldn’t be carried out, ” Bavuma stated. We attempted to swing the ball early despite the difficult circumstances, but as they eased up, we saw how simple it was.
Bavuma thinks a score around 220 was reachable, but after India produced a total closer to 240, it was always going to be difficult to catch them.
“David Miller demonstrated why he is among the top T20 batsmen in the world. He seems to be in excellent health, and his performance has given us a lot of confidence, according to Bavuma. I believed that 220 would have been a fine starting point, but 240 was too high.
However, Bavuma hasn’t scored a run in his own two innings and his comeback from injury has resulted in two series-leading ducks.
His seven-ball nought on Sunday, which came after he played out a maiden in Deepak Chahar’s opening over, was very important in determining the result.
Due to the visitors falling only 16 runs short of the mark, SA essentially had just 19 overs to chase down India’s score, which eventually proved vital.