De Kock's Match-Winning 90: How He Made It Count Against India

De Kock set the tone for South Africa, posting 213/4 with clean hitting at the top and dazzling shots hit square of the wicket through the leg-side. His 46-ball 90 was laced with five fours and seven sixes, apart from sharing an 83-run stand with Aiden Markram for the second wicket.

"I don't know what's going on; it's just happening. I guess that's the thing, when I do get going, I try to make it count. That's pretty much what it is, literally. Look, I just think it's because we play each other so many times. We always play on good wickets, especially here back home. That's literally what it boils down to at the end of the day," said de Kock after getting the Player of the Match award.

"Look, the guy (Arshdeep Singh) got me out plenty of times, that I know for sure. And it always seems to be the same way. So I think it was just a technical thing I needed to be aware of, and after that, it would sort of play out naturally. That's pretty much all it boils down to," he said.

He also went on to highlight the contrasting conditions across the two innings. "I think the wicket was a bit slow up front, felt like it took some time to get to the bat. When we were batting, any new batsman would find it a bit harder to come in. The ball didn't feel like it was wet; it still felt dry."

"So it was just a matter of myself and Aiden (Markram) and me holding on and trying to build a partnership, because it wasn't going to be easy for the next guy walking in. When the Indian team batted, it went the other way."

"It got two-paced with a bit more pace in it, it quickened up, and everything moved around at pace. When we batted, it moved around quite slowly. So that's really the difference between the conditions in the two innings," he elaborated.

Pacer Ottniel Baartman, who finished with four wickets, including three scalps coming in the 19th over, credited the early breakthroughs by Jansen and Ngidi for allowing him to be more attacking later with the ball.

"Nothing too fancy. I reckon the two frontline seamers set the tone for us up front and just allowed me to come in and do my thing. We acknowledged that there was something in the surface, so it was about keeping the ball on the surface and hopefully getting some purchase off the wicket."

"They (Jansen and Ngidi) are swing bowlers, so they try to swing the ball up front. Me and Lutho (Sipamla) and I are natural seam bowlers, so it worked for me today. Just tried to seam it up; maybe wobble seam, cross seam, and we can skid it a little bit, so we just kept it a touch fuller," he said.

Explaining his approach and the training behind it, Baartman said, "The training camps are quick and fast, so you need to be warm all the time. Whenever the captain calls upon you, you have to be ready. When they set the tone the way they did, when you have teams three or four down in the Power-play, it's difficult for them to come back from that. That just allows the backup bowlers to do their thing."

- IANS