Kolkata, Nov 16 (IANS) India stand-in captain Rishabh Pant acknowledged that the 44-run partnership between South Africa captain Temba Bavuma and all-rounder Corbin Bosch with seam bowling did harm the hosts, as they suffered a 30-run defeat at Eden Gardens on Sunday.

Skipper Temba Bavuma’s resilient 55 not out on a difficult batting pitch, combined with a useful 44-run stand with Bosch, following a brief 16-run partnership with Jansen, took South Africa’s lead to 123, which was enough to secure a Test victory in India after 15 years. In the chase of 124, India were bowled out for 93 and now trail 1-0 in the two-match series.

“After a game like this, you can’t dwell into it too much. We should have been able to chase it. The pressure kept on building. We didn’t capitalise enough. Temba and Bosch had a good stand in the morning. That partnership between them hurt us,” said Pant in the post-match presentation ceremony.

When asked about the pitch’s nature, Pant felt that anything around 120 was tricky to chase, considering spinners received a lot of help, but he conceded that the Indian batsmen should have completed the chase.

“There was help from the wicket. A score of 120 can be tricky on these surfaces. But having said that, we should be able to soak in the pressure and capitalise. We haven’t thought on the improvements but we will come back strong for sure,” he said.

In the post-match press conference, India head coach Gautam Gambhir said the challenging two-paced pitch with up-and-down bounce was exactly what they had wanted for the match at the Eden Gardens.

“This is what we asked for and we are happy with what we got. This is exactly the pitch we were looking for. The curator was very helpful. If you don’t play well, this is what happens. It wasn’t an unplayable wicket. It was a wicket where your technique and temperament is tested. If you have solid defence, you can score on such wickets,” he said.

Gambhir also criticised the Indian batsmen for being unable to chase down 124 on a pitch where he believed there were no real difficulties. “I felt 123 was very much chaseable. You need the right temperament to score runs, this is what happens when you don’t play well. There are no demons in this wicket, Axar, Bavuma scored runs.”

“The majority of the wickets were taken by seamers. This is the wicket to challenge mental toughness, technique and temperament. KL Rahul, Temba, and Washington had a solid defence. You should be able to have mental toughness,” he said.

–IANS

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