South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis admitted that his decision to bowl first against Bangladesh backfired after his team fell to a 21-run defeat in the 2019 World Cup clash at the Oval.
It was the second consecutive defeat for the Proteas in the tournament and it came after they conceded a 300-plus total for the second game in a row.
Opting to bowl first on the same surface where they conceded 311 runs in the opener against England proved to be costly for South Africa with Bangladesh amassing a total of 330-6 on Sunday.
“Looking back, no,” du Plessis said after the loss when asked if he still would have elected to bowl first in hindsight.
“I wouldn’t have bowled first, but the thinking was, the surface was going to have more pace and bounce.
“Today didn’t go according to plan. Wasn’t ideal with Lungi (Ngidi) getting injured, but 330 was out of par. Not a great performance from us.”
Ngidi left the field with an injury after bowling just four overs.
With pacer Lungi Ngidi joining the treatment table after sustaining a hamstring injury, South Africa’s troubles are only mounting ahead of their next clash against India on June 5.
There could, however, be good news for the Proteas regarding the fitness status of veteran pacer Dale Steyn who has missed both of the side’s clashes so far with a shoulder injury.
“We came here with a fast bowling attack we wanted to have, not quite sure of Lungi’s hamstring injury, it can be a few days or a week off,” the South Africa skipper said on Ngidi’s injury status.
“Dale Steyn is bowling in the middle now, hopefully there’s some progress.,” he added.
