Ahmedabad, Feb 22 (.) India skipper Suryakumar Yadav said on Sunday that the match with South Africa slipped away during the powerplay phase rather than in the closing overs, admitting that early wickets disrupted the chase and changed the momentum of the contest.
“We were always in the game,” Suryakumar said. “We bowled really well in the beginning, but 21 for 3 in the powerplay hurt our chase. When you are chasing 180-185, you cannot always try to win the game in the powerplay, but you can definitely lose it there. Unfortunately, that is what happened today.”
India lost to South Africa by 76 runs in their first Super 8 match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium here.
Suryakumar added that the batting unit needed to show better game awareness during big chases. “We needed small, small partnerships. That is the key when you are chasing big totals. We lost too many wickets early, and then it became difficult to build momentum in the middle overs.”
The skipper praised the bowling effort, particularly the pace partnership. “Everyone knows how lethal the Bumrah-Arshdeep combination is. They bowled really well together today, picked wickets, controlled the run flow, and kept us in the game.”
Suryakumar said the team would take lessons from the defeat and move forward with a simple game plan. “We will keep things simple, play our brand of cricket, and come back stronger. The learning is important, but the belief in our process remains strong.”
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