Proteas outskilled by India, says coach Walter

“The scoreboard will tell you everything you need to know,” Proteas coach Rob Walter said. And that scoreboard made for depressing reading for SA supporters and players. 

It showed the concession of 26 extras — 22 of them wides — and that India had hit 35 fours and five sixes, many off dreadfully delivered balls and overs.

It also showed an SA batting unit that failed to come to terms with India’s ferocious bowling, with Marco Jansen’s 14 the highest score in a total that matched SA’s second-lowest in one-day internationals (ODIs). 

This was a cricket massacre, a defeat by 243 runs — SA’s worst — and a performance that did not indicate that this was the second-placed team in the tournament facing the top side.

“We got outskilled on the day,” Walter said. “If you walk into [the SA] change-room now, you will find a group of guys highly disappointed that they weren’t able to pay tribute to what was an awesome occasion.

“It was a great opportunity for us to showcase our skills. We have played so well throughout this World Cup and we wanted nothing more than for this to be a great contest.”

The difference in execution between the two teams was stark, quite clearly with the ball, but also with the bat, where India were more assertive, albeit against far inferior bowling.

They notched up 326/5, with Virat Kohli scoring his 49th ODI century to equal the mark of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. He was the main feature in a build-up that was further hyped by the match featuring the top two teams.

But the outcome showed the gulf to be vast. Though officially the crowd numbered 58,000, it felt like a lot more when Kohli reached his 100 milestone, with the roof all but blown off its supports by the roar that greeted him.

While the SA players had said throughout the days preceding the match that they would treat it like any other, it did not feel that way in the first 10 overs. 

Jansen, so impressive throughout the tournament, conceded eight wides in his opening over on what was a very bad day for the 23-year-old, who leaked 94 runs in total. 

“We spoke this week about being excited by the occasion,” Walter said. “It’s not often you get to play at a full Eden Gardens in a World Cup. In the lead-up to the game and even before [the start], I didn’t get a sense of the guys being nervous or overawed by the occasion.

“Today, Marco had an off day. He’s a young guy playing in a World Cup. He’s played seven excellent games up to this point. He didn’t have a great start today and he can as easily bowl very well the next time we get them, if we are able to.

“Fortunately for us, today wasn’t a must-win fixture,” said Walter.

That will come next Thursday, most likely back at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens for their semifinal.

The Proteas meet Afghanistan next in Ahmadabad on Friday and it will be an opportunity for them to shake the horrible performance out of their systems. 

“They are a hell of a team. They are very balanced and highly skilled,” Walter said of India. “They have won every game well. India were far superior today, there’s no two ways about that.

“But in this tournament we have been far superior to other teams that on a piece of paper looked evenly matched or even superior to us.

“Once you get your nose in front in international cricket, anyone can beat anyone,” he said. “India got in front and we weren’t able to get back into the game.”