“It’s never nice to win one and then lose one – you look like an inconsistent team”
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
South Africa captain AB de Villiers has announced that he is getting very frustrated with the national team’s inconsistency in ODIs.
De Villiers’ comments come after South Africa were beaten by 87 runs in the second ODI against Sri Lanka in Pallekele.
“It’s never nice to win one and then lose one – you look like an inconsistent team,” de Villiers said. “We should have got closer. I don’t like us to lose not being in the game the last 10 or so overs.”
While de Villiers admitted that it was a difficult pitch to bat on, he added that it shouldn’t be used as an excuse for the Proteas’ poor performance.
“All three games I’ve played here, the guys batting second have lost the game but that is not an excuse,” he said. “I thought 250 was par. This was just above par but it was still chaseable. We felt if we were there in the 40th over, we’d have a chance of winning it.”
De Villiers expects the conditions in Hambantota to “suit us a lot more” and hopes his team will bounce back and win the decider.
“We are under pressure to win that last game,” he said. “But we would love to win a series away from home and we are still in the running to do that.
“The mood in the camp is fantastic. You can always judge a team’s mood by the four guys that are not playing and they have done a fantastic job. I am looking forward to take things forward and trying to win the series.”
Meanwhile, South Africa will be sweating over pace bowler Dale Steyn as he sustained a thumb injury during the second ODI.
Steyn confirmed that his thumb hadn’t been fractured, but added that “he couldn’t bend his thumb and index finger so it was impossible for him to bowl”.
However, de Villiers will keep checking on Steyn before he makes any changes.
“You can’t plan for injuries in a game,” de Villiers said. “It happens once in a while. I don’t think there is anything wrong with our bowling options but we will obviously have a look at our team.”