Skippers: Pitch was a bitch
Mumbai - South Africa skipper Graeme Smith blamed the Brabourne Stadium pitch for his team's 87-run defeat in a low-scoring group match against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy on Monday.
"It's always tough to sit and moan about a wicket when you've lost, but in terms of an international tournament I don't think the wicket was of a good standard today," Smith told reporters.
"I know both Flem (New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming) and I were a bit undecided at the toss. We went on the information we had, and the pitch deteriorated as the day went along. Batting second was very, very difficult."
South Africa, second only behind world champions Australia in the ICC one-day rankings, were bowled out for a paltry 108 while chasing 196 for victory in the day-night match after choosing to field first.
"Obviously today was not an ideal start for us and it does put us under pressure. We have to regroup and maybe look at one or two small things before the next game," Smith said.
Had a few chances
"All credit to Stephen. His knock held their innings together and without him, who knows, we might have been chasing 120-130," Smith said, referring to man of the match Fleming's gritty 89.
"If you look at Stephen's knock he was the core around which they looked to build. He had a few chances that he got away with, but he played superbly on a wicket that was difficult. I think the innings deteriorated from their innings to ours, it got worse and worse."
"Last year we were here in November and there was a lot of dew. Dew was a big factor. The wicket played quite well then. This wicket was going through the top, it was turning almost square."
"It was a spinner's paradise - even I was turning the ball square. On wickets like this spinners are going to play a big role."
Fleming said he was equally unsure how the pitch would behave.
"We were uncertain about how it was going to behave and how much dew there would be later on. We went with what we saw, which was a very dry wicket, and as it turned out it got worse," he said.
News source: www.news24.co.za
Posted by: www.SouthAfrica-CarHire.com
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