Kolkata: Losing to India in the group stage of the World Cup was an eye-opener for South Africa who hope to rectify their mistakes for a possible battle in the final, feels spinner Keshav Maharaj.
India amassed 326/5 before the spin twins Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav shared seven wickets between them to bundle South Africa out for 83 in 27.1 overs.
“I think it was a good trial run. Hopefully, they do progress further in this tournament after the semi-final. We need to just identify areas where we can get better,” Maharaj told reporters at the mixed zone on Sunday. India have already topped the pool and South Africa are set to finish in the top-three. The two teams can only face each other in the final.
“We’ve played exceptionally well past this point here. It’s just about going back to those performances that we did, and identifying the areas in which we can score against the turning ball.” The win halted South Africa’s four-match winning streak. “It’s probably a good thing and a blessing in disguise for this team is just to make sure that we iron out our glitches. It’s just a good eye-opener for us to see , “We played four good games on the bounce, so naturally there’s one game that would go wrong, not to make excuses for the performance today”.