Legendary South African hitter Hashim Amla says the Indian team’s superior collective experience was one of the key reasons for their easy victory in the first match of the Test series at Centurion. India beat South Africa 113 runs in Test 1 at SuperSport Park to take a 1-0 lead in the three-game series.
Amla told Cricket South Africa’s website: “It was a fair result. They (India) have emerged as a strong unit in the last two years. They have more experience collectively and when you have a good score to defend it always makes a big difference. .
South Africa has only had experienced players like captain Dean Elgar, Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi. Amla said that India’s huge lead in the first innings made the difference in the outcome of the match. He said: “At Centurion it becomes difficult to hit as the game progresses. So when India won the toss, they hit first and scored more than 300 runs, then all the onus fell on the South African hitters.
Amla said: “Doing 130 runs in the first innings was a setback for them and in the end it made a difference.”
The 38-year-old Amla, who scored 9,282 runs in 124 games averaging 46.64 with 28 hundreds in his career in the Test, praised the Indian batsmen for their excellent hitting on the first day of the Test. He said: “The court looked better to hit the first day and the credit goes to the Indians. He played disciplined cricket.
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