‘We were 4-5 down…’: Aiden Markram hails Indian bowlers, credits Abhishek Sharma’s impact

South Africa skipper Aiden Markram lauded Indian bowlers for a fine show that crippled his side’s top-order.

“They (Indian pacers) got the ball in the right areas and before you know it we were 4-5 down. If we get similar conditions, we have to put pressure back.

“Credit to them. They didn’t give us much to score off. I tried to take it deep. Whole time I thought if I got us to 140-150 it’d have been a closer game,” said Markram.

Markram admitted that Indian opener Abhishek Sharma’s 18-ball 35 took the match further away from South Africa.

“Credit to Abhi for coming off. We weren’t in the right areas in the first 3-4 overs. But it was a positive to stretch the game by bowling good lengths later,” he said.

Spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who took two wickets in the middle overs to slow down South Africa, said the skidding nature of the pitch helped his bowling.

“It was doing a bit for the seamers. Other than that, tough conditions. Never played in a ground that’s this chill. I was trying to stick to my strength. The ball was skidding more than turning, that’s what I tried to do it,” he said.

Chakravarthy said the bowlers and the team management had an open conversation after a mediocre outing in the second match at Mullanpur (New Chandigarh).

“We had a bowling meeting and some honest conversations. Credit to management and bowlers for a two-way conversation. Oh! I was not aware that I got past 50 T20I wickets, but it really feels good,” he added.

Brief Scores:

South Africa: 117 all out in 20 overs (Aiden Markram 61; Arshdeep Singh 2/13, Harshit Rana 2/34, Hardik Pandya 1/23, Varun Chakravarthy 2/11, Shivam Dube 1/21).

India: 120 for 3 in 15.5 overs (Abhishek Sharma 35, Shubman Gill 28, Tilak Varma 26 not out; Corbin Bosch 1/18).

( With PTI Inputs )