T20 World Cup 2021 | Our team also sees batting performance as a concern, says Kagiso Rabada
Kagiso Rabada said that his team is concerned about their batting performance
|South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada has said that the team sees it’s batting performance against Australia as a concern. South Africa was restricted on 118/9 by Australia in their opening match on Saturday in Abu Dhabi as none of the batsmen could score a half-century and lost the game by five wickets.
Australia skipper Aaron Finch won the toss and asked South Africa to bat first. South Africa had a horrendous start as they lost four wickets at the score of 46 runs in eight overs. Aiden Markram and David Miller stitched a partnership of 34 runs for the fifth wicket before Miller was trapped lbw by Adam Zampa. Markram was the highest scorer as he amassed 40 runs off 36 balls with three fours and one six. None of the batsmen could cross the 20-run mark. Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa took two wickets each while Glenn Maxwell and Pat Cummins took one wicket each.
In reply, Australia also had a terrible start as they lost three wickets at the score of 38 runs. Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell stitched a partnership of 42 runs for the fourth wicket before Smith was dismissed by Anrich Nortje. Australia managed to chase down the target of 119 with two balls to spare, thanks to Marcus Stoinis (24 not out) and Matthew Wade (15 not out). Meanwhile, Kagiso Rabada said that the last thing the team can do is to keep bickering on and on about the batting performance.
"Coming to this press conference, I kind of knew that people were going to ask or that you guys were going to ask a lot about the batting," the South African pace spearhead told reporters.
"We also see it as a concern. The last thing we need to do is keep bickering on and on about it.
"The batters know what they have to do. We know what we have to do as a team. No one is blaming anyone. But the worst thing you can do is just harp on and on and on about it. It is definitely an area that was of concern, and it's being addressed".
Rabada added that the West Indies are a dangerous team and cannot be underestimated.
"They're a dangerous team. You can't underestimate anyone. Tomorrow is a new day," Rabada added.
"We're going to have to go and be as disciplined as we were in our first game. We cannot take anything for granted. It's a new game, and they're a strong, powerful team, T20 team especially."
South Africa will next play against the West Indies on Tuesday, October 26 in Dubai. Both the teams have lost their opening games in the tournament.
