South Africa has begun the ODI series on a winning note. Carrying the form from the Test series, the Proteas defeated India by 31 runs in the first encounter. This was mainly possible due to the match-winning partnership between Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen. In this article, we take a look at the snippets of the post-match interview in which Bavuma praises Rassie van der Dussen despite his brilliant knock.
Bavuma praises Rassie van der Dussen
With the team struggling at 68-3, South Africa needed a strong partnership to get the act going. That is when Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen stitched a 200-run partnership to help the team post a total of 296. In the partnership, Bavuma took some time before he started scoring freely while Rassie looked set from the initial deliveries itself. Both the players got their hundred but it was Rassie’s knock of 129 from 96 deliveries that sealed the game. Captain Bavuma also noted the same in the interview after the match.
He said, “I struggled throughout the innings, Rassie seemed like batting on another wicket. That partnership was the decider. I tried to partner him as much as I could.”
India needs to fix its balance for the second encounter
Meanwhile, Team India must need to fix the balance if they have to make a comeback in the series. Despite a decent batting start, the middle-order failed to come good. With the ball, too, the Indians could not create much of an impact in the middle-overs. Much of it was down to the selection of the team. Venkatesh Iyer was not used for his bowling skills and hence, him at No.6 proved to be a liability. If he is not going to be used, the likes of Suryakumar Yadav could have a better impact with the bat. Also, it needs to be seen if one of Mohammed Siraj or Deepak Chahar gets a chance in the bowling attack.
