Team could have avoided a number of dismissals, says Hashim Amla
Hashim Amla, the South African batsman, considered as one of the finest openers of the modern era has stated that some of his teammates could have avoided getting dismissed to ordinary shots following the first day of the first test against New Zealand at Kingsmead in Durban on Friday (August 19).
After winning the toss South Africa went to bat and managed to score 236 runs for eight wickets on day one before bad light forced an early finish.
Hashim Amla scored the most runs for the Proteas with a half-century and was supported by Temba Bavuma, who made 46.
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The dismissals of Quinton de Kock and JP Duminy happened because of the lack of patience, as JP top-edged a bouncer and de Kock got out while trying to take on Mitchell Santner after already hitting him for two fours in the over.
"Quite a few of us got out to deliveries in ways that could have been avoided," Amla was quoted by Cricbuzz.
"I tried to bat normally. It wasn't a conscious effort to score quickly. If I look at anybody else, they were hitting the half-volleys and cut shots. That's what you need to do to score runs."
Amla also heaped praise on the aggressive batting style of the wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock and he believes that the young man will bat longer in Tests.
The 33-year-old also said, "Someone like Quinny has been around for three or four years and he is aggressive by nature," "He plays that way. He got a quick 30 and had he not got out, we would have been in a good position. As he becomes more experienced, he will work it out. He played exceptionally well to get us some momentum, but, unfortunately, he didn't bat through."
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The first day of the Test went well for the New Zealand bowlers, they took eight wickets all total and Neil Wagner, the seamer from New Zealand, picked up three. Trent Boult also did extremely well as the left-arm fast bowler bowled three maidens in his first spell of eight overs and conceded only eight runs.
While Hashim Amla is banking on the tailenders to add some crucial runs on the second day, Wagner is hoping that his side can pick up the two remaining wickets as early as possible and the batsmen from his side can show good batting performance to build a healthy lead.