We handled the pressure well: AB de Villiers
South Africa did well under pressure to emerge victors in the third ODI against Sri Lanka to stay alive in the five-match ODI series. Thanks to the efforts of David Miller (85 off 72) and Lonwabo Tsotsobe (4/22) the Proteas managed a 56-run win, coming back well after consecutive losses in the opening two ODIs.
South African captain AB de Villiers was happy with the way his team handled the pressure situations to come out on top in the end. Having posted a competitive 223/7, The visitors had Sri Lanka reeling thanks to the bowling efforts of Tsotsobe. However, the de Villiers-led side were under pressure when Robin Peterson gave away 35 runs in the in the 33rd over which included 5 sixes and a four off Thisara Perera's bat. The South Africans though managed to stay calm to make it through in the end.
Speaking at the post-match conference, de Villiers said: "It's a great win. We handled the pressure situations extremely well, which pleased me very much. Robbie [Peterson] went for a big over when I threw him into the deep end. But it's the way the boys reacted which is what made me really proud after that. We stayed really calm, stuck to our game plans, kept it really simple and came out on top. The guys looked really hungry today and I'm glad we made it through."
While Perera was going all guns blazing, Tsotsobe put down a sitter in the 39th over which could have cost the visitors the game had Faf du Plessis not held on to a skier from Perera three overs later. de Villiers mentioned that the Proteas were lucky that the dropped chance did not prove costly.
"After Lopsy [Tsotsobe] dropped the catch I told him it could happen to anyone, because I felt he might get another catch, which he did. He improved the second time around. Those kinds of things happen. Sometimes it costs you the game, sometimes it doesn't. This time we were lucky it didn't cost us the game. We moved on, which was the positive thing again. We stayed calm in all the situations and that was great."
The win was South Africa's first against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka after close to 20 years and de Villiers credited his seamers for the victory, commending Tsotsobe in particular for his excellent bowling performance.
"After missing the first two games and having to prove his form and condition, Lopsy coming back like that, and showing his skill that's in him was really pleasing for me. The partnership he and Morne formed up front was outstanding and they set the standard for us. Lopsy picked up the wickets so congrats to him for that, but you've got to give credit to Morne as well. He hit the deck really hard and stuck to his lengths. He didn't give them much to hit and to score off."
de Villiers had a special word of praise for the fielding efforts of his side, mentioning that they saved close to 20 runs thanks to their fielders. "We saved about 20 runs in the field I believe. Fielding is an attitude and it's a hunger to win the game. If you have that, you'll always have a good fielding set-up. I thought we had that tonight. We can still improve, but I'd like us to do that more consistently."
Man of the Match David Miller said they were hoping to play out as many overs as possible after the top order collapse. He reckoned that the wicket was slow and had a lot of turn which is why they had to work really hard to build partnerships.
"When AB went and Robbie got out, I just said to Ryan we really need to hang in here until the last three overs. We were looking at 45 overs the whole time and if either Ryan or myself had got out, it's Morne Morkel and Tsotsobe coming in, so we thought let's really take it as deep as we can. We just decided the last two overs would be key. The wicket was very slow and had a lot of turn. We really had to work hard up front and try and build partnerships and take a little bit longer than normal. This innings means a lot to me," Miller said.
South Africa did well under pressure to emerge victors in the third ODI against Sri Lanka to stay alive in the five-match ODI series. Thanks to the efforts of David Miller (85 off 72) and Lonwabo Tsotsobe (4/22) the Proteas managed a 56-run win, coming back well after consecutive losses in the opening two ODIs.
South African captain AB de Villiers was happy with the way his team handled the pressure situations to come out on top in the end. Having posted a competitive 223/7, The visitors had Sri Lanka reeling thanks to the bowling efforts of Tsotsobe. However, the de Villiers-led side were under pressure when Robin Peterson gave away 35 runs in the in the 33rd over which included 5 sixes and a four off Thisara Perera's bat. The South Africans though managed to stay calm to make it through in the end.
Speaking at the post-match conference, de Villiers said: "It's a great win. We handled the pressure situations extremely well, which pleased me very much. Robbie [Peterson] went for a big over when I threw him into the deep end. But it's the way the boys reacted which is what made me really proud after that. We stayed really calm, stuck to our game plans, kept it really simple and came out on top. The guys looked really hungry today and I'm glad we made it through."
While Perera was going all guns blazing, Tsotsobe put down a sitter in the 39th over which could have cost the visitors the game had Faf du Plessis not held on to a skier from Perera three overs later. de Villiers mentioned that the Proteas were lucky that the dropped chance did not prove costly.
"After Lopsy [Tsotsobe] dropped the catch I told him it could happen to anyone, because I felt he might get another catch, which he did. He improved the second time around. Those kinds of things happen. Sometimes it costs you the game, sometimes it doesn't. This time we were lucky it didn't cost us the game. We moved on, which was the positive thing again. We stayed calm in all the situations and that was great."
The win was South Africa's first against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka after close to 20 years and de Villiers credited his seamers for the victory, commending Tsotsobe in particular for his excellent bowling performance.
"After missing the first two games and having to prove his form and condition, Lopsy coming back like that, and showing his skill that's in him was really pleasing for me. The partnership he and Morne formed up front was outstanding and they set the standard for us. Lopsy picked up the wickets so congrats to him for that, but you've got to give credit to Morne as well. He hit the deck really hard and stuck to his lengths. He didn't give them much to hit and to score off."
de Villiers had a special word of praise for the fielding efforts of his side, mentioning that they saved close to 20 runs thanks to their fielders. "We saved about 20 runs in the field I believe. Fielding is an attitude and it's a hunger to win the game. If you have that, you'll always have a good fielding set-up. I thought we had that tonight. We can still improve, but I'd like us to do that more consistently."
Man of the Match David Miller said they were hoping to play out as many overs as possible after the top order collapse. He reckoned that the wicket was slow and had a lot of turn which is why they had to work really hard to build partnerships.
"When AB went and Robbie got out, I just said to Ryan we really need to hang in here until the last three overs. We were looking at 45 overs the whole time and if either Ryan or myself had got out, it's Morne Morkel and Tsotsobe coming in, so we thought let's really take it as deep as we can. We just decided the last two overs would be key. The wicket was very slow and had a lot of turn. We really had to work hard up front and try and build partnerships and take a little bit longer than normal. This innings means a lot to me," Miller said.
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