The South Africans had no answer for the questions asked by the Indian bowlers.
The Proteas will have to improve their batting quickly if they’re to stand a chance of being competitive against India in their on-going T20 series on the sub-continent.
That is the assessment of batting coach Ashwell Prince following the Proteas’ 101-run loss to India in the first of five T20 matches this month, in Cuttack on Tuesday.
The teams meet again in match two in New Chandigarh on Thursday.
After India posted 175 in their knock, South Africa were bundled out for 74 inside 13 overs to suffer their worst innings total in T20 cricket.
“We need to find consistency … the batting is one department where we need to improve quickly,” admitted Prince after the match.
“The Indian bowlers asked a lot of questions, and as batters we’re expected to answer them … but we weren’t up to the task.
“In T20 cricket you feel any score under 180 is chaseable.”
‘Adaptability’
South Africa won the toss and opted to bat second.
Prince said the South African batters had to learn quickly to adapt on different pitches, though he had no qualms about the wicket in Cuttack.
“The pitch was good. Not every pitch is supposed to be a 220 pitch. India had to work hard for the first part of their innings and then Hardik (Pandya, 59 not out off 28) played a brilliant knock to get them a competitive score … which turned out to be enough.
“Adaptability should be a massive word in every cricketer’s vocabulary,” said Prince.
“You can look at the surface but you only really find out what it’s like when you’re out there batting and that is when you have to be adaptable, on the day. Unfortunately, tonight (Tuesday) we weren’t able to do that.”
Since the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA, South Africa have lost 17 out of 23 T20 matches.
The teams meet again on Thursday.
