Proteas must deal with new ball, says Maharaj

While there were some positives to take from the fight the Proteas displayed to recover from a horrific top-order collapse, all-rounder Keshav Maharaj says the team needs to find better ways of dealing with the new ball.

Maharaj, who arrived at the crease with the total on a disastrous 42/6, top-scored for the Proteas in their crushing eightwicket defeat at Greenshields International Stadium at Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.

After being put in to bat by India, the visitors’ top order went into meltdown as the Indian new ball bowlers wreaked havoc, taking five wickets in 15 deliveries, to have SA reeling at 9/5.

Maharaj scored a brisk 41 off 35 deliveries, and with Aiden Markram (25) and Wayne Parnell (24), helped the Proteas to 106/8 in their 20 overs.

Losing two wickets early on, in addition to accumulating their lowest power-play score in a T20 international, did not deter India as an unbeaten 93-run third-wicket stand between Suryakumar Yadav (50 off 33) and KL Rahul (51 off 56) saw them win with 20 balls to spare.

Maharaj said while it was a disappointing performance, they would not dwell on it too much with the next match only 48 hours away.

“The character we showed to go from 20-odd for five to come back and get 106 and still make a game of it, I think we can take some positives from that.

“Something we do need to address is the new ball and the way we are playing it.

“There is a lot of swing, so maybe we just need to adjust our plans and mindset and take it from there,” he said.

The right-hander said the two-paced nature of the pitch made it difficult to know what to expect in the first innings.

“We did see that the side winning the toss tends to bowl first, but we never expected the ball to swing that much.

“It was not an easy wicket to bat on, it was very two-paced, the odd one skidded through with a lot of tennis ball bounce at various points. I just say we need to reassess the application we showed up front and find ways to combat the swing,” Maharaj said.

The Dolphins player does not believe the pitch got any easier to bat on in the second innings.

“The seam bowlers did really well in the power play, KG [Rabada] and Wayne [Parnell] bowled exceptionally well, they never gave too much away.

“So, I don’t say it got easier, I just say small moments could have gone our way.

“When Surya came in and if that top edge went to hand, it could have been a different situation, but I suppose when you are behind the eight ball, nothing seems to go your way.

“Full credit to the India batting unit, they batted exceptionally well, KL and Surya took their time, approached it and just played within their game plan,” he said.