Proteas coach pleads for tight bowling

Proteas coach, Russell Domingo, regretted the ‘soft dismissals’ which led to the disappointing performance with the bat, and has asked for a disciplined response with the ball on Day two.

“We will be the first to admit that there were far too many soft dismissals,” Domingo said after the day’s play. “When you are playing against a quality bowling attack like India you have to limit the freebies that you give them. Today there were far too many soft dismissals for our liking.

 

“We have to stick at it,” the coach said of the plan going forward. “Historically the first session at this ground tends to reap the rewards for the bowlers so we have to be very disciplined in the way we start tomorrow. We have to hit the top of off-stump with the odd bouncer, it might sound simple but that is what our seamers have to do. We have to try and make some early inroads tomorrow, we know that in this country the game tends to speed up, it’s not impossible to lose six or seven wickets in a session. Although we are a long way behind the game we know that tomorrow’s session can get us back into it if we come and execute our plans well.”

 

India’s spinners were once again the chief destroyers on a ‘good pitch’ accounting for eight of South Africa’s 10 wickets. The majority of the inexperienced batsmen in the line-up are playing under Indian conditions for the first time, and will have to show better application in the second innings to counter India’s spin threat.

 

“He (Ashwin) is consistent with the areas that he hits and has been on top of us in the first few Tests, there is no doubt about that,” Domingo said. “We have some work to do, he has been the standout bowler for them but we have to find ways of remedying that when we come to the second innings.

 

“There is no need to panic,” Domingo said reassuringly. “We came here with a newish look team in terms of Test batting. Amla, De Villiers and Duminy are the three guys in our order to have batted in India before this series. Four of the top seven haven’t played a Test match in India before and they would have learnt a great deal over the last couple of Tests. There is still a lot of cricket to play, we are not a side that panics easily, we know we have the quality within our group.” 

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