South Africa paceman Junior Dala has urged his fellow bowlers to be more proactive when they take on India’s batsmen in the second T20I in Centurion on Wednesday.
The 28-yeard-old Dala made his debut in the first game of the series at the Wanderers on Sunday – which the Proteas lost 28 runs – and took two wickets but was on the expensive side, going for 47 runs in his four overs.
It was obvious that the Proteas pace attack had a gameplan to attack the India top-order with short balls but more often than not those deliveries went to the boundary.
The India pacers mixed up their lines and lengths superbly in the second innings of the match, showing the home attack how they assessed the surface.
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Dala told reporters on Tuesday: “We just need to be a lot more proactive. In the first three overs, if there are a lot of cut balls or pull balls, maybe we needed to change it up a lot sooner.
“When you play T20 cricket, you have to assess the wicket early on. We sort of had a gameplan, and we all stuck to it. The Indians also saw us bowl.
“So in hindsight, they saw what we did and how the wicket was and could adjust. We backed our gameplan, whether it was wrong or right. It is something we truly believed in.
“If they were four down, we wouldn’t have talked about it.”
Dala admits that he was nervous in his first game for his country, especially after told that he would be opening the bowling, something that he does not do in T20s at domestic level.
The Titans fast bowler added: “I was a bit nervous,. I don’t bowl in the Powerplay even for Titans. So to open the bowling, glad I could control the ball.
“Maybe, adrenaline got too much. But overall, I could have done a bit better. Pleased that I got a few wickets also. So not too bad.”
The Proteas need to win the match in Centurion to set up a series decider to be played at Newlands on Saturday.
