SL vs SA | Batting at No. 3 was a new challenge that I am enjoying, reckons Aiden Markram
Aiden Markram has stated that he had enjoyed batting at the No. 3, despite the challenges that arise with that position. The 26-year-old, who hit match-winning 48 runs vs Sri Lanka in Colombo on Friday, added that not having a fixed game plan was the biggest challenge about batting at No. 3.
During South Africa’s first T20I against Sri Lanka on Friday, the Proteas put up a competitive total of 163 runs and restrcited the hosts for 135/6 in 20 overs. South Africa openers Quinton de Kock and Reeza Hendricks scored 36 runs and 38 runs respectively, following which the Proteas lost three batsmen for 14 runs in 19 balls.
Makram was the pick of the batsmen and scored 48 runs to help them cruise to victory, alongside David Miller who scored 26 runs. Following South Africa's win, the 26-year old shared his experience about batting at the No. 3 position.
“Batting at no.3 is a new challenge. It’s one I am enjoying," said Makram. “You have to be quite street-smart in your approach. The biggest struggle in that position is that your game plan can’t be fixed.''
"I thought (163/5) was a good score on that wicket, granted we still had to bowl well which we did. It was by no means a cracking score,'' the 26-year old added.
Makram then stated how the inclusion of Quinton de Kock and David Miller had brought a certain level of experience to the South Africa side. He also lauded Miller for helping him stay calm and focused, while he was building his innings.
“We’ve got quite a bit of experience now with Quinny and Dave back and they are providing good communication on and off the field. It was really good batting with Dave, he helped to keep me calm and focused out there.”
While the Sri Lanka spinners were posing to be a possible problem, the South African batsman adapted and dealt with the situation accordingly. The right-hander explained how the South Africa batsmen were more confident playing spin these days, as they had put in a lot of practice with the spinners in the team.
“The guys are more confident playing spin nowadays and that's only because of the amount of emphasis we’ve put on it, and the training we’ve done,” Makram explained.
“It helps when you have spinners in your own camp who are incredibly good bowlers, and we get to face them day in and day out. The guys have been putting in a lot of hard work regarding spin and the options available to them to score. It is still a work in progress,” he added before signing off.
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