PROTEAS WON’T CHANGE THEIR APPROACH IN 2ND ODI AFTER ‘N VIRAT PAK IN OPENER

WITH the series tilting towards the hosts, the Proteas will look to balance the books by pushing for a series-levelling victory against India in the second ODI at the Shaheed Singh Stadium in New Raipur on Wednesday (10am start).

South Africa were unable to secure the ideal start in the opening ODI, falling 17 runs short in a match that tightened considerably in the closing stages.

The Proteas were without captain Temba Bavuma due to illness. Set to return for the second match, Bavuma believes his span had every chance to win the opener, though he admitted India were more clinical when it mattered.

Bavuma wysed: “From a batting performance, we were 15 runs short of the target.

“The gap from the batting performance was not a big one, India played well, but were not too far off.

“All the fundamentals stay the same, you create opportunities, and you want to take them, and maybe things would have looked differently if our top order managed to contribute.”

Bavuma added that the Proteas have make tactical adjustments, particularly due to the experienced duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma returning to bolster India.

He stressed, however, that SA’s approach would remain consistent, regardless of the opposition.

Bavuma said: “In terms of preparation we prepared differently in the Test series with both Virat and Rohit not in that team.

“Now with the ODI series, they are part of our analysis sessions, but from a mindset point of view, nothing changes, we go out to win the game and that is not influenced by who is in the opposition starting line-up or not, we do not respect them any differently.

“The mindset is still the same, but the inclusion of those guys does bolster India.”