Image Credit- Getty
According to Tilak Varma, a notable shift in weather
following a heavy downpour at Gqeberha contributed to India’s defeat to South
Africa in the second Twenty20 international on Tuesday.
India was set to bat first and lost both of their
openers for ducks, but they rallied to 180 for 7 in 19.3 overs thanks to fast
fifty-minute stretches from Rinku Singh and Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak’s 29 off
20 balls. India’s innings was subsequently prematurely ended by the rain, and
when play eventually began, South Africa was chasing a revised goal of 152 in
15 overs. The bowlers found it difficult to control the ball in the wet
circumstances.
“I feel in the powerplay, we gave a bit [of]
extra runs, but after that we came back strongly,” Tilak said at his
post-match press conference. “But due to the wet outfield, the ball was
not gripping as we thought. But actually we batted well.
“It’s always good to play in South Africa; it’s
quite challenging. We are well-prepared for these conditions, and we have
actually batted well in a tough situation. The openers didn’t do too well today
but after that Surya, myself and Rinku got good rhythm in the batting side and
we scored well. But due to the rain and wet outfield…”
Tilak also recognized the efforts put in by the South African
spinners in their innings. Tabraiz Shamsi and Aiden Markram were instrumental
in putting the clamps on an Indian batting that had just found its bearings at
the right time and were setting themselves up to post a total that could have
put the game beyond reach. Shamsi was the most economical bowler out of the
lot, coming through with excellent figures of 1/18 from his quota of 4 overs.
“I feel the wicket was a bit on the slower side
when we batted, especially with the new ball it was slightly seaming,”
Tilak said. “After that, it was gripping a bit and spinning a bit when
Markram and Shamsi were bowling. So the spell that Markram and Shamsi bowled
went their way. I think it was a good spell from them. Otherwise, we could have
reached 200 or 200-plus.”