Dharamsala, Dec 14 (NationPress) South Africa's captain, Aiden Markram, acknowledged that his team was outplayed by India's strategic bowling in the chilly environment during their seven-wicket defeat in the third T20I at the HPCA Stadium, where the visitors were dismissed for just 117 runs.

Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, and Kuldeep Yadav each took two wickets, while Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube contributed with one wicket each. South Africa struggled significantly, finding themselves at 30/4 within the first seven overs. In response, India successfully chased down the target with 25 balls remaining, taking a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

Markram commented, “It’s tough to articulate. The conditions were challenging at the beginning. They consistently bowled in the right areas, and before you know it, you’re four, five, or six wickets down. Thus, credit must go to their bowling. Some bowlers delivered Test-match quality deliveries, which made it tough for us. If the conditions remain similar, we need to figure out how to manage that and apply pressure back on them.”

“You simply have to admire their bowling unit from that night. It was challenging to score runs. We aimed to extend our innings but lost key wickets, making it harder to escalate the scoring towards the end,” Markram expressed during the post-match presentation.

Having top-scored with 61 runs, Markram mentioned that a score of 140-150 could have significantly altered the game's outcome. “I constantly felt that if we reached 140 or 150, we’d be firmly in the game,” he noted.

“If I could have capitalized at the end, I feel like hitting a six could have changed everything. It’s all about small margins. We will not delve too deeply into it but will need to prepare answers if the conditions are the same,” he added.

Markram emphasized the importance of identifying favorable match-ups and maintaining a positive approach to tackle them. “In such conditions, it’s crucial to select a bowler you believe you can target. This wicket doesn’t allow for a carefree approach against all bowlers,” he stated.

“Finding the right match-up and fully backing yourself when the opportunity arises is key. In between, focus on efficiency and keeping the scoreboard moving. Reaching 140 or 150 is achievable,” he added.

“You never want to restrict players or use negative language regarding ball placement. Encouraging the team to play aggressively is vital. Each player will learn from this experience and evolve into better cricketers,” Markram concluded, noting that South Africa could have performed differently with the ball. “The start was crucial. They always intended to play aggressively—credit to Abhishek for his performance. However, we will assess our effectiveness based on how many deliveries we placed in the right areas.”

“In those initial overs, we perhaps didn’t land enough in the correct zones. If they score runs despite that, it’s part of the game. Overall, I felt we improved significantly after that, extending the innings by maintaining length consistently and asking challenging questions,” he summarized.