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Cape Town - Proteas captain, Faf du Plessis, says there are still a lot of areas to work on despite his team’s 37-run win against Afghanistan in their ICC World Twenty20 Group 1 match at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
AB de Villiers led another flawless batting performance with 64 runs off 29 balls to take the Proteas to their 10th total above 200 and the most by any other team, but it was the execution with the ball in the opening overs that was once again the the let-down for the skipper.
“Once again our first three overs were really disappointing, even though they (Afghanistan) played some really good shots,” he said to the media after the match.
“We need to be a lot better, it’s as simple as that, we have to improve. The batsmen played great shots but our skill levels are letting us down at the start. There is a lot of work that lies ahead for us in improving in those first three or four overs.
“There was a lot of learning for me, especially to see the way that Chris (Morris) bowled,” he said. “It’s great for his confidence, he is one of the guys who has been going for quite a lot of runs and it’s important for our bowlers to get some confidence, that was a great result for Chris.”
The Proteas travel to Nagpur on Monday, the venue for their crucial clash against the West Indies on Friday. Du Plessis says a different set of skills and mind-set will be needed depending on what the VCA Stadium conditions produce.
“The thinking behind the wicket here was that the seamers skid on, there wasn’t much swing,” he said of the Wankhede Stadium.
“Dale is quite a skiddy bowler and we felt this wicket wouldn’t suit him as much. We wanted to bring in David Wiese, who bowls a bit of variation, we thought pace off the ball would help and he also strengthened our batting.
“We are a team that will make selections based on the pitches that we play on,” he said.
“We move from here to Nagpur which will be different so the thinking will change again. We have to be able to adapt to the conditions as a team. The wicket in Nagpur has been turning quite a bit so we will have to make those decisions there.”
JP Duminy sustained a strain to his left hamstring while fielding and was unable to field for most of the Afghanistan innings. He will receive treatment and rehab over the following days before a decision on his availability for the match on Friday is made.
