Centurion: After losing the second T20I of the three-match series, India skipper Virat Kohli believes the rains made life difficult for his bowlers as the men in blue failed to defend a respectable total of 188 against hosts South Africa here on Wednesday night.Commenting on the match's outcome, which the visitors lost by six-wickets, the run-machine said,"Tough one for the bowlers.
We were looking at 175 with the loss of early wickets. Manish and Raina batted well initially. Manish and MS were outstanding to get to 190. I thought that was a winning total. Then the weather made it hard for the bowlers. Till the 12th over it was fine but with the drizzle, the wicket settled down. The ball was difficult to grip too."
"You don’t want play to be stopped. Once the game was continued in the first innings, we knew it was going to be continued throughout. We didn’t really have problems with the conditions, it was a constant drizzle, was fine to play," Kohli said further.The India captain however, didn't ceased from praising the Protean batsmen for hunting down the target and keeping the series alive. "Credit to the SA batsmen. Heinrich Klaasen and JP Duminy really batted well. They were very positive. Good from the spectator point of view,” the 29-year-old expressed.
"They took calculated risks. They targeted the short boundary and it came off for them. They deserve to win. We expect them to show some fight. They showed the passion which is needed to win games of cricket. They deserved to win tonight," added Kohli.With the series levelled at 1-1, both the teams will now clash in the third and final T20I in Capetown on Saturday night.(UNI)
