South Africa batted when the wicket was at its best: MS Dhoni

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MS Dhoni
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Dhoni said Ajinkya Rahane had batted well at number 3 in the series but they wanted Kohli to get runs as well and that is the reasons reshuffled the batting order again today. (Photo Source: BCCI)

South Africa batted when the wicket was at its best: MS Dhoni: South Africa won the Rajkot ODI by 18 runs and with that took a 2-1 lead in the 5-ODI series. India definitely had their chances and would feel they lost the game they should have ideally won. The chase was right on the track until the 35th over while Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni were at the crease. But a game-changing strategy from Protea skipper AB de Villiers when he asked his pacers to pull back their length and with that they got the big wickets and grabbed the match.

At the post-match presentation ceremony Indian skipper said, he thought that the pitch changed quite a bit in their batting innings.

MS Dhoni said: “I thought 270 was a par score, the wicket kept getting lower and slower and the dew didn’t help us out. It became a bit two-paced and become difficult to play the big shot. We are looking for batsmen to play at 5, 6 and 7. Till they play there, we won’t know who is a good bet over there. And we are looking to give chances as well so it’s a tricky one.

Dhoni said Ajinkya Rahane had batted well at number 3 in the series but they wanted Kohli to get runs as well and that is the reasons reshuffled the batting order again today. “Jinx batted well at 3 but Virat couldn’t score, this is something we will have to look at. I thought our bowlers did well; maybe a bit more dew would have made it difficult. They batted when the wicket was at its best and they also couldn’t find runs at the death.” He said.

The winning captain AB de Villiers was delighted with the effort his batsmen had put in; he thought 250 was a winnable score on this wicket, though he agreed that his bowlers did well to get control of the match from a position where Dhoni and Kohli were dominating the proceedings.

AB de Villiers said: “Very special batting performance. Quinton answered a alot of questions just like how Quinton can do. We struggled between the 37th and 44th over but found our way at the end. To have Miller up front was out of the box thinking from us. We were looking at 250 as a par, the way we fought back with the ball was special.”

The Man of the Match Morne Morkel who picked up 4 wickets in the game, thought this was one of his better bowling performances in ODIs and against India.

Morkel said: “Really worked hard this week on mixing it up a bit. I’m a rhythm bowler and need things to click to operate. We had a couple of game plans and it is important to execute and we did that. I suppose you live by the sword, you die with the sword, he is a big hitter down the ground and had to vary it. Every time I do well, especially against India is very special. And it will last with me forever.”

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(Quotes source espncricinfo commentary)

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