JP Duminy says the Proteas must reassess their game plan if they are to beat India in this ODI series.
South Africa were demolished by India again on Wednesday, losing by 124 runs at Newlands to go 3-0 down in the six-match series.
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The Proteas’ batting lineup has been frail and struggled against spin. Twenty-one wickets have been taken between India’s spinners, Yuzvendra Chahal (11) and Kuldeep Yadav (10), in this ODI series so far.
But is there a plan for the Proteas to beat India?
‘There certainly can be a plan. There should be a plan,’ said Duminy after the Proteas’ defeat at Newlands.
‘There’s no doubt that we will reconvene after this game and break down where we went wrong. It’s pretty obvious that we haven’t played their spinners well enough.
‘I heard a stat that they have taken about 22 of the 30 wickets [actually 21 of the 28]. It’s something we definitely have to look at and see how we can be better.’
Duminy admitted the Proteas had struggled to stick to their strategies.
‘Yes, we have game plans, but unfortunately, they have bowled well enough to not give us the balls to play in our game plans. We have to come up with different ways to counter how good they have been. We have plans to counter their spin, but our execution hasn’t been to the mark.’
He further acknowledged that the Proteas were outclassed on all fronts, singling out Virat Kohli’s superb innings of 160 not out.
‘We have to put up our hands and say that they have been too good for us, they’ve outplayed us in all departments.
‘Just looking at Virat’s innings today – the way he paced it – batting at a 100 strike rate today and picked it up at the end.
‘We spoke about it a lot from our batting perspective, how crucial partnerships are and we haven’t had the opportunity to put together partnerships.
‘The only stand-out performance has been Faf’s 120 in the first game. As a batting unit, we have to make sure we do better than that. We have to take it on the chin and take responsibility and know that we are better than that.’
Photo: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix
