Follow UsSouth Africa captain Temba Bavuma was all praise for David Miller and Rassie van der Dussen for their performances in the first T20I against India on Thursday. The pair put up an unbeaten stand of 131 runs in just 63 balls as the Proteas chased down 212 with seven wickets in hand and five balls to spare at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
Bavuma felt that his team can improve in the next four games of the series.
"We are happy of our performance. We expected the wicket to getter as the night wears on. There are areas we can improve on," Bavuma said in the post-match presentation.
After put in to bat by South Africa, India were powered by opener Ishan Kishan's 76 off 48 balls while captain Rishabh Pant (29 off 16 balls) and Hardik Pandya (31 not out off 12 balls) piled on runs at the end.
"I think the way Ishan batted, he made it look easy. He put our spinners under pressure. That was a proper batting display," Bavuma said about Kishan's innings.
Miller, who is coming off a title-winning season with Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022, continued his rich vein of form with an unbeaten 64 off 31 balls. Van der Dussen, despite being benched by Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, showed no rustiness as he scored 75 not out off 46 balls.
"David carried his form, properly supported by Rassie. It was a good wicket probably reading the situation better and (corrections needed) going to the death options earlier and taking away the boundary balls," Bavuma said of the pair.
"We have a lot of belief on Rassie. He takes it slowly and takes it on at the end. He is the guy who sees us through. With David, makes it very explosive," he added.
Indian captain Rishabh Pant felt that his team were way off with the execution of their bowling plans.
"I think we had enough on the board but were off with our execution, but credit to the opposition. We thought the slower one was working when we were batting but it became easier in the second innings," Pant said.
India and South Africa face off in the second T20I on June 12 at Cuttack.