JP unfazed after defeat

The Proteas made a far from ideal start to their tour of India, as they went down by eight wickets in their only warm-up fixture in Delhi.

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The Proteas made a far from ideal start to their tour of India, as they went down by eight wickets in their only warm-up fixture in Delhi yesterday.

Having amassed 189/3, including encouraging returns to action for skipper Faf du Plessis (42 retired) and JP Duminy (68 not out), the Proteas were then put to the sword, as the BCCI Board President’s XI rattled up the required score with just two wickets down.

“We would have loved the result to go our way but I was quite pleased with our first outing in India,” Duminy said after the match.

“Scoring 190 was a good start with the bat for us, but we could have executed a little bit better with the ball.

“I don’t think it is something we need to worry too much about, though.”

While Duminy was not too perturbed, the Indian media mob quickly noted how the Proteas opening bowlers were put under early pressure, on an admittedly very good surface for batting.

“It was very good batting conditions, and not much turn. So you had to be pretty smart with your options. You could look at our execution, and say we could have done better, but it was also our first outing.” he said.

The Proteas also had a regular distraction from a flow of airplanes landing just beyond the stadium. As Duminy explained, it is all part of the allure of playing in India.

“It was not much of a distraction actually, and it probably helped us focus a bit more. The crowd probably still made more noise,” he quipped.– Cape Times