By: BCCI
South Africa enter the 2nd T20 in Cuttack with a comprehensive seven wicket victory under their belt. They were set a target of 200 which was achieved with two balls to spare owing to some stellar batting performances from JP Duminy and Farhan Behardien.
Both were unbeaten at the end of the innings and it was a case of job well done. Behardien who shared an unbeaten century stand with Duminy spoke about the calming influence his left-handed partner had on his game. “Batting with JP is always a bit of blessing,” Behardien said.
“He has been here so many times; he is the captain of Delhi (Daredevils) in the IPL. I have learnt a lot from David Millers and AB de Villiers as well. It was nice to stay calm, and JP had a calming influence on me.”
The left-hand right-hand partnership with Duminy unsettled the Indian bowlers, which was a conscious ploy according to Behardien. “One of the conscious efforts is to try and disrupt the bowling unit. The field always has to change, with fielders having to cover different sides of the boundary. The bowler has to change his line and length. JP has different strengths to what I have, and he has different weaknesses to what I have. The game is so short and the grounds are so small, that something like that can change the game, but not always. If David Miller had gone ahead of me, we all know what he could do in the short format. If he had got a good start, he could have taken the game away from India as well.”
It was a quality knock by Behardien himself. He provided the perfect cushion that Duminy needed at that point in time. He rotated the strike when need be and at the same time went for the boundaries to keep up with the required run-rate. A lot of preparations had gone into the making of that knock according to the middle-order batsman.
“We looked how to work in the middle overs of the 1st T20. India generally bowls a lot of spin in that particular period. Before coming to India, I personally did a lot of work with my coach Rob Walter (at Titans). I played a lot of spin.”
One thing that the South Africa batsmen did was to capitalise in the power play overs where they robbed India of 67 runs in the first six overs. When asked if the lack of pace in India’s fast bowling section worked as a disadvantage for the home side, Behardien said, “It is not a disadvantage at all. Each team has their weaknesses and strengths. Australia have four-five bowlers who bowl at 90 miles an hour, we have been fortunate enough to have four bowlers who can bowl 90 miles an hour. But India has four to five quality spinners. Each team has its own strengths and we prepare accordingly for spin, especially in the subcontinent. Prior to this, we went to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh where we played a lot of spin. So, it’s not a disadvantage and we have to combat that as well.”
What was interesting to see in the first T20I was that the best batsmen played at the top four of the batting order. AB de Villiers opened the batting with Hashim Amla followed by captain du Plessis and JP Duminy. AB opening the batting could be a regular feature in the games to follow reckoned Behardien.
“I think AB might open the batting especially in the subcontinent conditions where AB has played for so many years. He was mentioning that he has been on tour to India about 25 times. The first six overs in a Twenty20 game when the ball comes on to the bat are crucial. If we can pounce on the Power Play, AB is that good a player that if he bats for 50 to 60 balls, he will end up with a hundred. We wanted to test it out before the World Cup next year in March and see how he goes. Let’s hope it proves fruitful for us.”
For all latest updates on India vs South Africa follow Drcricket7.com
