The margin of victory was big but South African captain Quinton de Kock was equally impressed with the manner in which his team fought back to win the third T20 International against India and level the series.
India were cruising at 54 for one in six overs before the Proteas staged a remarkable comeback.
“They got off to a great start but I am very impressed with the way the guys fought back, they read the conditions very well, they stuck to their plans, they just kept up the pressure on India,” de Kock said at the post-match media conference.
The skipper top-scored with a blazing 52-ball 79 to engineer his team;s nine-wicket victory at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. But it was not that easy for the visiting batsmen initially.
“They put a lot of pressure on us in the first four overs, kept it very tight, didn’t give us a lot of bad balls, ball was swinging.
“We just stuck to our guns upfront, just tried to soak up the pressure.”
Playing in his first game of the series, left-arm fast medium bowler Beuran Hendricks returned impressive figures of 2/14 in his four-over spell.
“Beuran, in our T20 local league back home, he bowled really well in that tournament. Coming into this game, he has worked really hard on his skills. He deserved the chance and he took it with both hands,” de Kock added.
