India skipper KL Rahul admitted the side fell short of 50-60 runs as India suffered a 8-wicket defeat at hands of the Proteas in the 2nd IND vs SA ODI. A blazing century from Tony de Zorzi and a solid partnership with Reeza Hendricks saw SA comfortably go past the winning line to level the series 1-1. The Indian skipper admitted that the side could have put pressure on the hosts if there hadn’t misses.
KL Rahul defends side after IND vs SA 2nd ODI loss
“Probably win the toss, there was a bit of help in the wicket in the 1st half. It was a hard wicket but having said that Sai and I were set, had we gone on and made a big 100, we could have got 50-60 extra and those are learnings we will take from here. Had we got 240 would have been good but unforuntaly we lost wickets at regular intervals and they had help from the wicket. We trust in each individual’s games and each individual’s gameplan and what they feel is comfortable with – that’s what we tell them, there’s no right or wrong in cricket and you trust the players to come up wth their own gameplans. There was a bit of help in the first 10 overs and we beat the bat a lot, one edge we did not hold on to, had we taken that we could have put pressure on them. We leave what happens on the ground and try and focus on the next one”, skipper KL Rahul said.
IND vs SA 2nd ODI
De Zorzi top-scored for the Proteas, staying unbeaten at runs. His counterpart Reeza Hendricks was dismissed for 52 runs after he stitched up a record 1st wicket partnership at the venue with Zorzi. Arshdeep Singh was the only Indian pacer who managed to get a wicket while Rinku Singh struck a little too late to get the second wicket. De Zorzi was adjudged the Player of the Match (POTM).
South Africa bounced back to win the second ODI against India in Gqeberha on Tuesday and level the three-match ODI series 1-1. The Proteas were handed an 8-wicket defeat in Johannesburg on Sunday but they were relentless two days later.
India would be keen to learn from their errors on Tuesday. For starters, they were too defensive with the bat, an approach which hurt them in the World Cup final against Australia exactly a month ago. And the body language was really poor even when Arshdeep Singh picked the wicket of Hendricks in the 28th over.
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