Varun Chakaravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi had a great partnership with the ball, says Mark Boucher

New Delhi, Nov 9 (IANS) Former South Africa wicketkeeper and head coach Mark Boucher praised spin twins Ravi Bishnoi and Varun Chakravarthy for having a great bowling partnership in India getting 61-run win in the T20I series opener in Durban.

In defence of 202/8, Bishnoi and Chakaravarthy built pressure well to pick six wickets between themselves – ending up with three-fers each, while yielding 53 runs. It meant South Africa were never able to break free and were bowled out for 141 in 17.5 overs, as India gained a 1-0 lead in four-match series.

"Varun Chakravarthy has come on leaps and bounds. The way that he bowled tonight with Bishnoi, what a great partnership that the two of them had in the middle of there. Klaasen looked out of sync, to be honest, he didn't look like he was in good form at all."

"They were never really in with a shout, always looked like something was going to give in. I think they bowled nine balls for three runs at some stage to build up pressure. They really made it almost look like men against boys to be fair," said Boucher to broadcasters JioCinema after the game ended.

He also praised leg-spinner Bishnoi for changing his seam position in the second innings. "I was watching a couple of his (Ravi Bishnoi) balls come out a little bit different and I think what he did really well tonight, especially in the dark, is he changed the seam up. Sometimes you look at the ball, especially as a wicket-keeper as well. You look at the ball and see if you can see it spinning different ways. But he muddled his seam up very nicely."

With Klaasen not getting a blazing start, David Miller’s struggles didn’t help South Africa’s case either. Boucher pointed out how Miller playing five dot balls against Bishnoi in the 11th over further highlighted the batting struggles he had in Durban.

"David Miller wasn't picking a thing at all. I mean, there's one over there where I think he missed four out of the six deliveries he faced. So Bishnoi bowled really well, and it just goes to show two spinners with lots of quality. There was something there for the bowlers, on that wicket, something that South African bowlers could not exploit," he concluded.

--IANS

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