London: Hashim Amla, who cracked 81 runs to bag the Man of the Match award against Pakistan on Monday, is delighted that he could handle the tough bowling attack. What pleases him most is the role he played to bring South Africa back into contention after their defeat to India in the first game.
“After the first defeat in this kind of format, you’re pretty much under pressure to win the next two. Fortunately, we managed to get on the board,” he said and went on to sportingly praise the Pakistan bowlers.
“Their [Pakistan’s] left arm bowlers are unique to our cricket. We don’t face many left-armers and a barrage as often as well. The team kind of felt and we kind of know the Pakistan attack is one of the best in the world especially in this tournament. They bowl really well, and I think just the partnerships that we got going kind of made it easier for us to boast this total. They’re really good attacking bowlers, and fortunately we managed to get 230 odd and our bowlers kind of closed the game down for us,” said Amla, who even revealed that it was a tough wicket to bat.
“I’m just glad I managed to contribute to the team. It was a tough wicket. And upfront, I kept chatting with my partners. In hindsight, I think it was probably a vital partnership in the first 10 overs. So I’m just fortunate to have contributed a bit.”
According to Amla, who opens the innings, facing two new balls is not easy especially on England wickets. “The wickets here offer a bit of assistance to the teams. When you go to places like the subcontinent you may ideally like two new white balls, because the wickets are a lot more batter-friendly. “So I think in these types of conditions, it’s proven to be quite difficult. It’s given the bowlers up front a chance, and if you see through that, hopefully you can manage to score some runs. I thought today was probably a good example for that.”
When asked whether he was surprised with the ease with which they won in the end, he said: “I think the way we kind of fielded and bowled upfront made 230 seemed a lot more. The wicket deteriorated and it wasn’t the easy wicket to bat on. As [Aaron] Phangiso, Robin Peterson, and JP Duminy bowled, it made it a lot more difficult and fortunately 230 was enough.”
