India Vs South Africa 2019/20: Third T20I – Virat Kohli Reveals Why He Chose To Bat First

Sep 23, 2019 at 3:32 PM

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India Vs South Africa 2019/20: Third T20I – Virat Kohli Reveals Why He Chose To Bat First

After losing the Bengaluru T20I on Sunday (22nd September) night, Indian captain Virat Kohli revealed why he decided to bat first after winning the toss.

Leading this series by the 1-0 with one to go, India had the great chance to win the series by winning the third and final T20I of this series at Bengaluru. But the hosts India suffered a thrashing defeat against the visitors South Africa in the Bengaluru T20I.

Read More: India Vs South Africa 2019/20: Third T20I – Statistical Highlights

After winning the toss, India decided to bat first. In the first powerplay, India managed to score 54/1. But after that, India lost their wickets at regular intervals. Apart from the left-handed opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan, all other Indian batsmen failed to reach the 20-run mark. Dhawan lost his wicket on 36 runs off 25 balls (4 fours and 2 sixes) after providing a good start.

South African bowlers were much disciplined with the ball. Later, the visiting captain Quinton de Kock comfortably guided his team to the solid victory. While the opener Reeza Hendricks scored 28 runs, de Kock remained not out on 79 runs off 52 balls and Temba Bavuma scored 27 not out. South Africa chased down that target in 16.5 overs after losing only one wicket.

In T20 cricket chasing is relatively easier

After suffering a nine-wicket defeat, Virat Kohli claimed that they wanted to take the first batting challenge in T20I.

Virat Kohli, Bengaluru T20I
Virat Kohli (Image Credit: Google)

In the post-match presentation ceremony, Kohli said, “Exactly what we wanted to do. This is the template we want to follow before the World T20. We should be able to find the answers. South Africa bowled really well, the pitch suited them really well in the first innings. In T20 cricket chasing is relatively easier because in other formats you need to bat longer and string partnerships, here a decent partnership of 40-50 in no time can take the game away from you.”

While the Indian team had only one 40+ partnership (41 runs for the second wicket between Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli), South Africa managed two successive 50+ partnerships. At first, the openers Reeza Hendricks and de Kock put 76 runs partnership for the first wicket. Then, de Kock and Bavuma had an unbroken second-wicket partnership of 64 runs.

We will try to get the squad composition right as soon as we can – Virat Kohli

It was the same Indian playing XI who beat South Africa in the Mohali T20I on last Wednesday (18th September). Indian captain Kohli claimed that they would try to manage the right team composition as soon as possible.

Read More: Kagiso Rabada Praises Young South African Team After Winning Bengaluru T20I

Virat Kohli, Bengaluru T20I
Image Credit: Google

He said, “We will try to get the squad composition right as soon as we can. At the moment the guys who have done well in domestic cricket are getting opportunities. It’s not like we are playing random people. They have done well to be here and they are good enough. We will have odd games like these as well, we have got to understand that this is a young side as well. I think we will have to give them a bit of time to come together. We batted till 9 tonight, so that’s one area we are looking to strengthen and go into the big tournament with the best possible combination.”

The opening match of this T20I series at Dharamshala had no result due to the rain washout. India won the second T20I at Mohali by seven wickets. However, India finally failed to win the series as it finished with the level margin by 1-1.

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