Senior players need to take responsibility of batting failures: JP Duminy

South Africa’s troubles against India in the shorter version of the game are far from getting over as the hosts conceded yet another game, this time a T20 off the three in the T20 series. South Africa skipper JP Duminy has blamed the poor show by the senior members of the side for the loss after the hosts failed to chase down a stiff total of 203 runs. They fell short by 23 runs as India took lead after a blistering half-century from Dhawan and later a skilfull bowling by Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

At Wanderers, shorter boundaries and decent batting surface meant that the target which India had set wasn’t beyond the reach. Past records too suggest that chasing was easy. Duminy was of similar view during his post-match press conference. He also mentioned how their bowlers pulled things back in the death overs. “I thought it was a decent total to chase down, especially at this venue. They were 100 after 8 overs, so at that point, you’re looking at probably 220 or 240, and I thought the way the guys came back was exceptional,” said the South Africa skipper.

Batting our Achilles heel throughout this Indian tour: Duminy

Duminy said during the press conference that the senior players need to take the responsibility of the regular batting failures and come good for the future games. “Unfortunately from batting perspective – that’s been our Achilles heel throughout this Indian tour in the short format. As players and as senior batters we have to take responsibility for that, we’ve got to look ourselves in the mirror, ask how we can improve and get better. Hopefully, that improves come Wednesday,” said Duminy.

He mentioned that in such run chases senior players like Miller, Morris and himself needed to come good with the bat but all of the three failed in the game. Duminy said that their top players including himself have failed to come good in the shorter format of the game against India. “Throughout the series, quite a few senior players have come up short. Including myself, it’s been a dismal ODI series and today as well,” Duminy told the reporters during the press conference.

The second game of the three-match series will be played on Wednesday where India will try to seal the series with a win while the Proteas will hope a turnaround to keep themselves in the hunt of the series win.