Performance was satisfactory – Dhoni – Cricket News Update
Despite his team failing to secure a spot in the semi-finals of the ICC World T20, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, was satisfied with the performances of his players during the tournament and lamented Australia’s big loss to Pakistan.
India battled South Africa in their final Super Eights fixture last night in a bid to make the knock-out phase of the competition for the first time since lifting the inaugural T20 trophy in 2007. Their task was made harder by their traditional arch-rivals, who secured a convincing win over the inform Aussies, which meant that the Men in Blue needed to defeat the Proteas by at least 31 runs.
However, they failed to do so after being put into bat by AB de Villiers. Following the loss of Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli and Virender Sehwag in the powerplay, their innings was provided impetus by Suresh Raina, who top scored with 45, before a late cameo from Dhoni allowed his side to post a middling total of 153.
Indian bowlers then restricted their opponents in the early phase but an impressive half-century from Faf du Plessis ensured that the Men in Blue failed to halt his side on 121. Dhoni’s team eventually won the battle by one-run but faced the disappointment of being knocked out of the tournament, courtesy a poor net-run rate.
“The performance was otherwise satisfactory,” the Indian skipper said before lamenting the impact of the Pak-Aus match, “We didn't think that the other match [Pakistan v Australia] would impact us so much. We knew that it would affect us but the required margin while winning was too big so we had a problem.”
The skipper also said that the team’s strategy was dealt a blow after South Africa asked them to bat.
"As per the equation our strategy was to field first and then score whatever the target at a fast pace, 15 or 16 overs. We needed to win by a margin of 30-odd runs so [I] was not so comfortable while making the strategy because when you are batting first you don't know what is a good score."
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