St George: After coming up short against South Africa in the second T20I of the five-match series, West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard said that he alongside Nicholas Pooran needed to control their aggression when chasing down a total of 167.
South Africa levelled the five-match T20 series against West Indies 1-1 on Sunday (local time) when they beat the hosts by 16 runs in the second T20I here at the National Cricket Stadium.
“Second day in succession our bowlers coming up trumps for us. We knew they will come hard at us. It is always difficult to defend in the first 6 with only two guys outside. Was a matter of bowling some good balls and try to limit the boundaries as much as you can. Having said that, they got off to a flier. But we used the conditions well after that and were happy when we kept them to 166,” said Pollard after the match.
“We had a normal discussion at the innings break as we were starting afresh at 0 for 0. I think we lost it between the 7th to the 11th over as we lost three wickets there. We are aggressive players by nature and that is no secret but myself and Pooran needed to control our aggression. We accept that for the team. Their spinners did a pretty good job. In the middle overs, maybe we can rotate a little bit more,” he added.
In an impressive response to their loss just one day prior, the unchanged visitors returned with renewed hunger, giving the confident home side a few things to consider.
South Africa was allowed just six more runs in their total than their match one effort – 166/7 – as they seemed to once again struggle to pile on the runs in the slow pitch conditions, particularly after the losses of Quinton de Kock (26) and Reeza Hendricks (42) upfront.
The seam bowling trio of Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje (1/27), and Lungi Ngidi (1/49) grafted hard and their hard work was rewarded with vital wickets at the top of the innings, as well as the end. Rabada was the pick of the bowling attack with 3/37.
The third T20I of the five-match series will be played at the same venue on Tuesday.