"I'm the one to be blamed,"- Temba Bavuma after South Africa's seven-wicket loss to India in Mohali

South Africa and India are currently battling out in three-match T20I series which is being played in India. The first match of the series got washed out due to rain, but in the second T20I India thrashed the visitors by seven wickets. The 2nd match of the series was being played at PCA stadium in Mohali. After the match, debutant Temba Bavuma came out with his thoughts about facing the defeat from the host.

In the 2nd banter of the series, South Africa played with 3 debutants in the game – Bavuma, fast bowler Anrich Nortje and left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin. India asked South Africa to bat first and the Proteas were only able to post 149 runs on the scoreboard, which was easily chased by team India in 19th over.

South Africa got off to a bad start but, came back with a partnership of 57 runs that was stitched between Bavuma and the Proteas skipper Quinton De Kock. As soon as the partnership was broken by Indian young gun Navdeep Saini, it became very difficult for the African team to make a comeback. The situation went from bad to worse when the Bavuma took his foot off the pedal and consumed a lot of deliveries in the death overs as South Africa’s innings lost steam towards the end.

Temba Bavuma took the blame for the defeat

After the match, Bavuma blamed himself for failing to give momentum to his team in the death overs of the match, “When David came in at No. 5, I think in the 13th over we were in a very strong position. That’s where we probably fumbled a bit in our batting cause. At the halfway stage I was thinking 180 at least – that could be a very competitive score.

But yeah we just weren’t able to get going. I’m the one to be blamed. I wasn’t really able to get the momentum. And all the other big hitters, I thought the platform was really set for the boys to go and do their thing,” Bavuma was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

The South African gave credit to the overall performance of Team India but also backed his side ahead of the 3rd T20, “They’re a formidable team but I don’t think they’re not an unbeatable side. Like I said, with our batting, it was just one phase where we let ourselves down. And a quality side like that would make us pay. So I think there’s always a moment in the game where we can win, and I think for us its more about being aware of those moments and making sure we’re in the right mental space to win those moments,” the 29-year-old added.

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