T20 WC: Rohit Sharma rues missed chances against South Africa, says 'we were just not good enough'

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma expressed regret over the missed chances during the T20 World Cup match against South Africa on Sunday (October 30) at Perth Stadium, thanks to half-centuries from David Miller and Aiden Markram.

A crucial 76-run partnership between Miller (59 not out) and Markram (52) led the team to achieve the set target with two balls to spare after the South African bowlers had held India to 133-9.

During the match, India made mistakes on the field as well. Markram survived a scare at 35 when a fumbling Virat Kohli dropped an easy catch at deep mid-wicket. Rohit, who said that the team was "just not good enough", also missed an underarm direct hit at the striker's end.

During the post-match presentation, Rohit said, "We were a little poor in the field, we gave so many chances and we weren't clinical. We were just not good enough."

"The last two games, we were pretty good in the field. We couldn't hold our chances, we missed a few run-outs. We need to keep our heads high and take learning from this game," the Indian skipper added.

South Africa's bowlers took charge, headed by Lungi Ngidi's 4/29. They were effective with their speed and short balls to restrict India to 49/5 in 8.3 overs. After that, Suryakumar Yadav rose to the occasion to score a counterattacking 68 off 40 balls, and he and Dinesh Karthik shared a stand of 52 runs for the sixth wicket as India posted a respectable 133/9 in 20 overs.

Rohit said, "We expected the pitch to have something in it, with the weather around. We knew there will be help for the seamers. Which is why you saw that 130 was not an easy chase. We fell a little short with the bat. I thought we fought well till the end but South Africa played well in the end."

While chasing, South Africa were reduced to 24/3 in 5.4 overs as Indian bowlers used fuller length and some swing, but South Africa shift the gears to complete the chase.

"The pitch is such that the wicket can come any time for the seamers. When you see that score (40/3 in 10), you`ll always think you`re in the game. It was a match-winning partnership from Miller and Markram," added Rohit.

Rohit concluded by noting that because spinners were being destroyed in the penultimate over of the innings, he wanted to finish Ravichandran Ashwin's overs before the final two overs arrived.

Rohit said, "I have seen what happened at the last with the spinners, so I wanted to go the other way. So I wanted to finish with Ashwin before the last over. I wanted to see that the seamers bowl the right overs. Given the new batter came in, it was the perfect time for Ashwin to bowl."

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