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AB: SA bowlers weren’t that bad

Cape Town - Proteas skipper AB de Villiers defended his team’s bowlers following their loss to England in the first one-day international in Bloemfontein on Wednesday.

England beat South Africa by 39 runs on the Duckworth/Lewis (D/L) method after rain prematurely ended proceedings.

The visitors posted a mammoth 399/9 in their 50 overs, with South Africa managing 250/5 after 33.3 overs when rain intervened.

Quinton de Kock was not out on 138 off 96 balls but the hosts ultimately lost too many wickets in order to win on the D/L method.

Earlier in the day, some wayward bowling from South Africa enabled England to post a mammoth target, with Jos Butler (105 from 76 balls) the main destroyer-in-chief.

De Villiers said afterwards it was a good wicket to bat and was reluctant to be too hard on his bowlers.

“It was a tough toss to lose I think, it was really hard on the bowlers the first 10 or 15 overs. It took us a while to realise that it was an incredibly good wicket,” the SA skipper said at the post-match press conference.

“We were a little bit slow to adapt with our lengths, but I’m not going to be too hard on the bowlers. I don’t think it (was) that bad of a day. I think we showed that with the bat in hand, cruising at seven-and-a-half per over, not even trying to push the run-rate up.

“It was a really good cricketing wicket... there were a few boundaries that were a little bit soft throughout the innings, but overall it was a decent effort to get them nine down.”

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