'You can chat all you want, you have to deliver in the middle': South Africa captain lashes out at teammates after 0-3 series loss vs West Indies

South Africa’s stand-in T20I captain Rassie van der Dussen was utterly disappointed with his team’s performance against two-time T20 World Cup champion West Indies. South Africa suffered a cleansweep in the three-T20I series at the hands of Brandon King-led West Indies. Van der Dussen criticised his teammates’ approach as they were comprehensively beaten in the T20I series ahead of the marquee event.
 

“Thoroughly disappointing, we have been taught a lesson, we couldn't adapt, still today we couldn't time the ball well so not happy with that. You can chat all you want, you have to deliver in the middle. The chatting is done, some of the guys will be coming into the squad for the World Cup,” he said in the post-match presentation. 
 

Van der Dussen also lauded West Indies for using the conditions well. In the first two T20Is, West Indies won by 28 and 16 runs respectively. In the final T20I, the Proteas lost to West Indies by eight wickets.
 

“They are playing in their home conditions but that's no excuse, we also have some spinning pitches back at home. They were good with the bat and they were better with the ball than us. The majority of the squad are playing together for 3-4 years so they know each other,” he added.
 

Notably, Van der Dussen is not a part of South Africa’s squad for T20 World Cup. Aiden Markram who played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) final for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), will be leading the squad in the mega event. 

 

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South Africa suffer batting collapse

In the third T20I, Van der Dussen won the toss and opted to bat first. Quinton de Kock hit a few boundaries but could not capitalise. The visitors lost four wickets for 40 runs. The captain rebuilt the innings with Wiaan Mulder. He scored 51 runs from 31 balls. Obed McCoy who replaced an injured Jason Holder in the World Cup squad bagged three wickets. 

 

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West Indies top-order batters thrash Proteas bowlers

The hosts made the run chase look easy. King and Johnson Charles went berserk in the powerplay overs. Charles reached his fifty form just 20 balls. West Indies were 83 for no loss after six overs. The openers departed but these were only consolation wickets. Kyle Mayers' unbeaten 23-ball 36 helped West Indies chase down the target with eight wickets in hand and 37 balls to spare.
 

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