AB de Villiers says he would have done things differently had he known rain would cut Pakistan’s innings short after 27 overs.
Rain continues to play its part in the Champions Trophy. Over the course of the past week, the only sun to have broken through in Birmingham was on Sunday evening, when India had enough time to defeat Pakistan by 124 runs D/L method.
On Wednesday it was South Africa’s turn to be on the receiving end of the weather. The skies remained overcast throughout the day, and at 19.45, the drizzle began and it never really stopped.
AB de Villiers wouldn’t have known exactly how the weather was going to play out, but with the knowledge that rain was likely in the evening, batting first after winning the toss was met with a bit of scepticism. In the end it came back to haunt the Proteas, who will be likely fighting for their survival in this tournament against India on Sunday.
‘It’s a difficult situation, you never know what to do,’ the Proteas skipper told Sky Sports after the match. ‘Whether it was a par score or not it doesn’t matter. We fought really well on the field and got into a very good position.’
Despite the weather being out of the Proteas’ control, De Villiers did admit that he would have been looking more fervently for wickets had he known that the match would come to an end when it did. Imran Tahir was only introduced after 15 overs, while Morne Morkel, who took 3-18, was taken off after five overs, with Parnell coming on for a two-over spell ahead of him just as the Proteas were starting to take some sort of control in the match.
‘If I had known it would be 27 overs I would have attacked a lot more on the field. We have to up our ante a little bit,’ he admitted.
De Villiers appeared to be in a bit of discomfort with his right hamstring after attempting a run out in the second over of Pakistan’s innings, but he doesn’t seem too troubled by it for the time being, as we await the final answer from the Physio.
‘The hamstring is okay, felt a little tweak, but we’ll check it out tomorrow. I don’t think it’s too serious.’
Photo: Harry Trump-IDI/IDI via Getty Images
