On a day that did not really pan out how South Africa would have liked, Graeme Smith put disappointment aside to speak highly of his team and of what he thought of the effort to take the match to within four overs of the finish.
smith dhoni with trophy
The second Test of the India South Africa series saw the visitors lose the series by an innings and fifty-eight runs. But the result did not tell the story at all. While India deserved the win for hanging on and taking their chances, South Africa did suffer a few slip ups. Nevertheless the South African captain is proud of the team for the fight back.
His words at the presentation indicate so. Here are a few excerpts:
"We're disappointed not to get over the line but the positive is that the seven guys today managed to take India down to the last few overs, which is a sign of character and skill.
"We know that in the subcontinent it's very difficult to play catch-up cricket, and once we gave them the upper hand they really drove the bus through that door. We were never precise enough in our first innings with bat and ball. We dropped a few chances and didn't get the ball in the right areas as often as we did in Nagpur.
"We haven't lost a series here on our last two attempts and many teams don't do that. If you look at recent records of teams that have come here, not many teams have been able to push India like we've been able to in these conditions.
"It was an incredible effort from Morne (Morkel) and Hashim (Amla) and Wayne (Parnell) who put together partnerships. The game could have been easily over just after tea where we were sitting. If anything we created pressure on India. Us coming into the series they had everything to lose and we had everything to gain, so we have come up with our heads above water in terms of what we have achieved."
Smith will miss the India South Africa ODI series with an injured finger.
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