Legendary South Africa batsman Hashim Amla believes greater “collective experience” in the Indian side was one of the key factors for the visitors’ comfortable victory in the opening Test in Centurion.
India beat South Africa by 113 runs in the first Test at Supersport Park to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
“It was a fair result,” Amla said on the Cricket South Africa website. “They (India) have been a strong unit over the last two years or so. They’ve more experience collectively, and it always makes a huge difference when you have runs on the board to back you up.”
According to Amla, India’s big lead in the first innings made all the difference in the outcome of the first Test. “Centurion is notorious for becoming tougher to bat as the days progress.
“So once India won the toss, batted and scored in excess of 300, it was game on for the South African batters to match that score at the very least,” the former Test skipper said. “Being 130 runs behind is what really hurt them, and it ended up being the difference.”
The 38-year-old Amla, who scored 9,282 runs in 124 Tests at an average of 46.64 with 28 centuries, praised the Indian batsmen for their impressive show on Day I of the first Test.
“On Day I, the pitch looked best for batting and credit to the Indians for playing disciplined cricket,” he said.
“It’s obvious when teams come to South Africa that their batsman talk about leaving well outside off stump, and that’s probably where the Proteas let themselves down.”
Talking further about the home side’s batting, Amla wants the in-form Temba Bavuma to bat higher in the order from the second Test in Johannesburg, which begins on Monday, now that wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock has retired from Test cricket.
“Now that Quinton has opted out of Tests, this cripples the batting line-up further and really, now more than ever, it makes it imperative for Temba to bat higher in the order. Be it at No. 3 or 4, allow him time to play a solidifying role as opposed to a recovery one,” Amla advised.
