India's new ball bowlers made life difficult for us: Markram

Dharamsala, Dec 15 (PTI) India's new-ball bowlers and his own team's failure to deal with the general challenge of higher dot balls in a low-scorer led to South Africa's loss in the third T20 International against India, visiting skipper Aiden Markram has said.

The pace duo of Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana struck early to leave South Africa reeling at 7 for 3 inside the first four overs, a setback from which the visitors never recovered as they slumped to a seven-wicket loss after posting just 117. The result gave India a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

"They got the ball in the right areas and before you know it, you're four, five, six down. For sure Arshdeep bowled really well. Both the new ball bowlers bowled really well," Markram said at the post-match press conference.

"You can have friendly conditions, but ultimately the bowlers still have to land the ball in the right areas and that's exactly what they did.

"You have to give credit to them for that. From ball number one, they were straight on it and made life really difficult. You have to give a lot of credit to them for that," he added.

Reflecting on the defeat, Markram acknowledged the challenging conditions but stressed the need for adaptability.

"Yeah, it's a tough one. You've got your captain's cap on, you're always a fan of it because I feel like you're always in the game. If you've got your batting cap on, you're obviously one flat wicket.

"It's a tricky balance. The conditions were tough with the time of year and the cold playing a role, but I don't really see a problem with it. Low-scoring games can be great to watch and real nail-biters, there's a time and a place for everything," he added.

Asked if a low scoring game eases the pressure of going for the big shots, the skipper said "It actually feels quite tough to score just because naturally the fielders are always going to be tighter in the ring.

"They're not going to be sitting back because they know it's tough. You generally end up facing a lot more dot balls than you would on a flat wicket.

"It comes with its own unique way of having pressure out there. Each of them pose a very different challenge, but one that's all part of batting I suppose." PTI APA PM APA PM PM