Prince Admits Proteas Need To Find Consistency As They Continue To Struggle
Proteas batting coach Ashwell Prince admitted the runners-up of the 2024 T20 World Cup continued to struggle for form and results in this format since appearing in that final – something he feels needs to be addressed.
The defeat by 101 runs to India in the first match of a five-game series in Cuttack saw South Africa slump to their lowest ever total in a T20 International game.
“We need to find more consistency, and after this batting performance, that is one department we need to improve on quickly – tonight we weren’t up to the task.”
Captain Aiden Markram won the toss and chose to bowl first, with Prince elaborating on that decision.
“The decision to bowl first was not based on the nature of the pitch. We thought it was a good pitch. We knew there was dew around. There always seems to be more dew around at night. We have the stats in terms of average scores, etc, so I don’t think the decision was based on what we thought the pitch would do.”
“Any score where you get 180-200 in a T20 is a chaseable score. The boundaries here are not particularly big.”
“I thought the pitch was good. Not every pitch you bat on must be a 220 pitch,” Prince exclaimed, “they had to work hard for the first part of their innings.”
In his observation, Prince was correct. India had a slow start and only scored 70 runs in the first 10 overs until the returning Hardik Pandya entered the fray.
Prince wasted no time in giving him the credit he deserved and pinpointed him as the game changer.
“Hardik came in and played a brilliant knock to give them a competitive score. You need to give him credit. He has come from injury and came back looking sharp. He picked the right moment to attack – he took on the spinners, and at the end he put the pressure back onto the fast bowlers.”
With Pandya at the crease, India added 105 runs in the final 10 overs – including 30 in the final two overs, with 59 runs coming off his bat off just 28 deliveries.
“I don’t think you can decide at the halfway point if you have a winning score – but you can put up a competitive score which turns out to be enough.”
Despite the heavy defeat, the Proteas still have four games to play in the series, and the batting coach stressed the importance of being adaptable.
“As a cricketer, the word adaptability is a big word in the vocabulary.”
“Being able to adapt to what the pitch is doing on the day is key – unfortunately, we were unable to do that and find any rhythm in our batting.”
