Schedule has been tough: Morris

Even as India opened their World Cup campaign on Wednesday, six days after the first match was played on May 30, South Africa were playing their third match of the tournament. Three matches in the space of six days can be tough on players’ bodies and it only gets exasperates if you lose all of them.

“Look, the schedule has been a bit tough,” admitted South African all-rounder Chris Morris following their third defeat against India. “I can only speak for myself, how I feel personally in terms of my body. Coming from IPL you are quite used to playing games on the bounce. Obviously, the overs are a little bit more. So, it has been a bit tough on the body. Mentally, we are pretty fresh. Obviously, it is quite draining to lose and to go three down. But I think we'll be okay. There's a lot of strong old boys in that team and some beautiful muscles in that side also. They will be okay,” he reasoned.

The reactions from South African fans has been obviously disappointing on the social media but Morris asked them to believe in the team. “I don't really read social media anymore (laughter). Look, fans at home, all we can say is stay with us. Stranger things have happened in the World Cup before, in any sport. So back us as much as you can, and we will try and perform for you.”

Morris wasn’t originally picked in the squad but came up with a fine all-round show against India to justify his place in the squad.

“Pretty happy,” Morris said about his show. “Yeah, look, like I say, at the end of the day, I could get nought and go for a hundred (in bowling) and we win it, that's all that matters to me. It's nice to bowl well and nice to get some runs at the end, but like I said overall a lot of disappointment. And it has been a tough couple of days in England for myself because I have been trying to get my loads up as much as I can, and bowling more than I have been used to bowling in the last three months of my life. So, it is quite nice for it to click today and get a bit of rhythm going, so there is a lot of positives to take out of today,” he remarked.