Virat Kohli says fielding won them the game against South Africa

Indian captain Virat Kohli, in the post-match conference after their win in the last match of the group stage against South Africa, admitted that the fielding efforts from his side were responsible for their win against the men in green. With their win, the Indian team progressed into the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy.

India faced South Africa in a must-win encounter at the Kennington Oval, London to confirm their ticket into the knockout stage of the championship. The Indian team had been average in the field in their games against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Even though they managed to win against the Pakistan side, they had to face defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka.

The team visibly tightened themselves in the field and as result created pressure on the openers, which gradually led to the flurry of wickets in the middle overs. India bundled out their opposition to a score of 192. Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan made a mockery of the target as India won the match by a handsome margin of 8 wickets, thereby, becoming the third team to reach the semi-finals.

I wanted to see everyone’s intensity go up: Kohli

“Yeah, can you say that. But the pressure was built by the bowlers, and that I think resulted in those breakthroughs that we got on the field. It’s important to grab those opportunities as well. Thinking about how we wanted to improve our fielding, I think this was something that we required, this kind of a fielding performance.” commented Kohli in the post match interview.

“And before going out, we had a chat in the huddle… I wanted to see everyone’s intensity go up and that we have to make a conscious effort individually in such a big game. Then bowlers were on the money and that actually helps the fielders get into better positions and attack the batsmen when they know the bowler is hitting the right spot regularly.” added Kohli. India meet Bangladesh in the second semi-final at Edgbaston which would decide the second finalist of the tournament.