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'We Need To Improve...,' Temba Bavuma Not Ready To Take India Defeat Kindly

image-lolne0rsTemba Bavuma was cleaned up by Ravindra Jadeja (Source: AP Photo)

It was another exuberant performance from the Indian setup against a formidable South African side in the World Cup 2023 game that happened in Kolkata. Virat Kohli's 49th ODI ton set the tone on his 35th birthday, which propelled Men in Blue to 326 before Ravindra Jadeja's five-wicket haul cleaned the opposition for just 83.

The Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma expressed his disappointment on the massive 243-run loss that shook his side as he admitted that chasing has been a concern for his side so far. Previously, South Africa lost to the Netherlands, whereas they won by just one wicket against Pakistan while going after the target.

Bavuma, during the post-match presentation, reckoned that they have had some discussions with the batters as they hope to turn things around in the upcoming games. Praising the Indian batting line-up, Temba mentioned that India got a fantastic start courtesy of Rohit Sharma, but his bowlers pulled the innings back in their favour.

After talking about Kohli and Shreyas Iyer's 134-run partnership, he spoke about the wicket, for which he stated that he expected it to behave this way. However, he admits that they need to improve as more onus will be on the fact that they will be playing their semi-final game here only.

"We know it's a challenge to bat second. We have lost chasing. We had our conversations with our batters. They got 90 in the first 10 overs. We did well after that. Curbed down the run-rate. Sharma kind of set it up. Kohli and Iyer had a good partnership. The wicket played the way we suspected it to. We were not able to adapt unfortunately. It's on us now. We need to improve. Potentially, we might play again here in the semis."

South Africa's final challenge in the group stage game will be against Afghanistan on the 10th of November in Ahmedabad.