Soft dismissals upset SA

 After being dismissed for a modest 214, South African coach Russell Domingo felt too many soft dismissals from their batsmen prevented his team from posting a healthy first innings total.

“We had too many soft dismissals. Against a quality bowling like India, we must not give away too many freebies but today, there were far too many soft dismissals that troubled our progress,” said Domingo.

South Africa’s struggle against spin once again came to haunt them but Domingo maintained that there is no need to press the panic button. “There is no need to panic. We have come with a fresh side to this tour. Only Amla (Hashim), Duminy (JP) and AB (de Villiers) have batted before in Tests in India. Four of our top seven batsmen haven’t played a Test in India before and we are learning as we play.”

Domingo added that the success of Ravichandran Ashwin against their batsmen is not affecting them mentally. “It is not playing in our mind. Ashwin is a quality bowler but we have to find a way to tackle him. We have got lot of work to do on this aspect,” Domingo said.

The 41-year-old coach confessed that he was a bit surprised when India chose to field first. “We were a bit surprised. Looking at their side, which had three seamers and considering the history of the ground, we were surprised that we were asked to bat first.”

Domingo stressed that the first session on day two will crucial, if the visitors are to make a comeback in the contest. “Historically, the first session on this ground has reaped rewards for the bowling unit. There is odd bounce available for the seamers. We want to try and make early inroads. We realise we are behind in the game as of now but a good first session will bring us level in this game,” reasoned Domingo.

Domingo heaped praise on de Villiers’ knock and said the right-hander was unlucky to get out. “He is always looking to score. That’s how he plays and it was a crucial knock by him. He was unlucky to get out as the odd ball bounced yet it was a wonderful innings by him.”