South African skipper was the lone warrior for his side after he played through the innings and scored a ton to bring his side to a decent total.,(Image: AFP)
After being all-out for 222, South Africa had the chance to win the game but Marnus Labuschagne came in as a concussion sub to save the game along with Ashton Agar.
Captain of the South African team, Temba Bavuma, managed to bat through the innings and finish with 114 of 142 deliveries in the opening One Day International against Australia. However, he has urged his side to be more relentless in their showing after they ended up in the losing side.
After being bowled out for 222, South Africa managed to pick quick wickets and reduced Australia to 113/7 but a concussion substitute in Marnus Labuschagne and Ashton Agar managed to score 80 and 48 respectively as they stitched a crucial partnership to take the Australian side to victory.
“If you get a team in that position, you expect yourself to be able to clean out the game. We speak about being relentless. When you get given a sniff against a team like Australia, you’ve got to take it. If the situations were reversed, they would have prided themselves on cleaning up the game,” Bavuma was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo after the match ended.
READ MORE: Concussion Substitute, Marnus Labuschagne Leads Aussies Home in a Low-Scoring Chase – News18
He also felt that some South African players are still finding their groove after no international matches in five months. “We will get better. These are world-class players we have in the team. We don’t expect them to keep making the same mistakes.”
Bavuma also admitted that the bowling line-up couldn’t keep things tight in the first ten overs.
“The first ten overs weren’t great. We managed to get wickets, but at what cost? That’s just a mis-execution thing.”
“If you look at our first 10 overs versus theirs first ten overs, it was chalk and cheese. It was just our inability to create chances in that innings. I would have encouraged the bowlers to use their bouncers a bit more.”
READ MORE: Cameron Green Set to Miss Few Games In Build-Up to the ICC ODI World Cup Due to Concussion Protocol – News18
The second ODI between South Africa and Australia will happen on Saturday in Bloemfontein. Bavuma signed off by saying South Africa will be aiming for improvements in the next game, especially with the Men’s ODI World Cup on the horizon.
“We’ve lost one ODI game. There’s no use referencing the T20s as that’s different personnel. We weren’t good enough and we need to find ways to improve our game holistically. We will challenge ourselves to get better.”
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – IANS)
Leave feedback about this