IND vs SA | It is nice to see our hard work pay off, says Quinton de Kock
South African skipper Quinton de Kock has expressed his elation over his team's clinical performance in Bengaluru on Sunday, which saw them gleefully outclass India in all departments. After restricting India to a score of 134, de Kock struck a sublime 79* to guide his side to victory.
Life couldn't be any better for newly-appointed South African T20I skipper Quinton de Kock at the moment, who has struck two consecutive fifties and has avoided a series defeat against the mighty Indian team in their own backyard in just his first two matches as skipper. While things were all over the place in Mohali, the Proteas got their act together in Bengaluru on Sunday and unsurprisingly, walked away as clearcut winners.
The skipper has now expressed his elation over his side's perfect display in the third T20I where they out-performed India in all aspects of the game right from the word go.Â
"Coming into the series, we worked really hard on our catching and fielding in general. It is a good feeling to see everything coming together, from a captain's point of view and from the team's point of view. It is nice to see that hard work pays off," de Kock said in the post-match press conference, reported ANI.Â
At one stage, India were cruising at 63-1 off just seven overs, but it was then the tall and lanky left-armer Beuran Hendricks who tightened the noose and strangled India to restrict them to a score under 140. Hendricks ended with figures of 2/14 off his four overs and skipper de Kock had nothing but words of praise for the 29-year-old.
"We focused on hitting a good length. Our spinners kept it tight too. Beuran bowled really well and he has the skills.
Sometimes it's better on these wickets to take the pace off. We fixed one or two things from our mistakes in the last game. Our intensity in the field has also been really good," de Kock said.
Another shining light for the Proteas was left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin who broke the back of the Indian middle-order by dismissing both Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant in a span of just three deliveries. De Kock also lavished praise on the young spinner who now has picked three wickets in his first two T20I matches.
"I am impressed with Bjorn Fortuin, a young spinner. The Indian team is very good to play spinners and to bowl the way he did, I can only praise him at the highest level," the skipper said of Fortuin.Â
Meanwhile, Rassie van der Dussen, who accompanied de Kock in the press conference, said that the Proteas would have bowled first anyway had they won the toss and lauded "world-class" de Kock for his fine efforts on Sunday which helped his team stroll to victory.
"We probably would have bowled first and I think they did not add enough runs to really put us under pressure.
"Quinton is a world-class player.... We came here with a goal to win and send a strong message and captain led from the front," van der Dussen signed off.