Faf du Plessis revealed that if he had Lungi Ngidi and Dale Steyn available the Proteas would have bowled first against India, writes KHALID MOHIDIN.

The Proteas took their third tumble of the tournament. They lost to India by six wickets and made their hunt for a semi-final spot extremely tricky.

A major decider in the match was the toss. Du Plessis opted to bat first in overcast conditions that were expected to be conducive to swing and spin. India proved this analysis to be true through Jasprit Bumrah, who removed the Proteas’ openers early, and Yuzvendra Chahal, who destroyed the Proteas’ middle order.

Du Plessis explained his decision to bat first.

‘With all our fast-bowling resources gone, we picked an extra spinner. It meant we needed a score to bring them into play. Had we had Steyn and Ngidi, it may have made sense to bowl first,’ said Du Plessis after the match.

‘Rabada is a champion, haven’t seen so many balls land short or go here and there. But that’s how the game goes, when you aren’t playing your best cricket, these 50-50 things don’t go your way. Morris too, was superb, bowled well and scored some crucial runs with the bat.’

Kohli admitted that he was happy with Du Plessis’ decision, as it worked in their favour, and said: ‘We were going to bowl first had we won the toss, with the new ball conditions were going to be difficult, they were coming off two losses.’

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The Proteas can learn from the way India’s bowling attack performed as a unit.

‘Their bowling was magnificent, got good fast bowlers and spinners. We did well to pull it back with the bat before their spinners ran through our middle order,’ said Du Plessis.

‘Rohit had a bit of luck, but he did what we didn’t do – got a hundred and won the game. It was a really good pitch, a lot of runs scored.

‘Ours is a changing room that is hurting, trying to make sure we keep fighting, but we’re making mistakes all the time. Today someone had to bat through, we didn’t do that. To have so many 30s and 40s is not acceptable.’

Next up are the West Indies for the Proteas at the same ground on Monday.

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