Highlights
- India won the first T20I by 8 wickets
- Surya smashed a 50 in 33 deliveries
- Parnell insisted that their flop show in the first T20I was an aberration
Suryakumar Yadav is currently in brilliant form and his powerful batting has made him one of the most feared T20 batters. According to South Africa all-rounder Wayne Parnell, the bowlers will have to stay strong and focused while tackling him.
Surya smashed a 50 in 33 deliveries in India's eight-wicket win over South Africa on a tricky track in the series-opener of the three-match T20I series.
"Personally from what I've watched in the last couple of months, I think he's probably the best T20 batter at the moment. He scores 360-degree which is very difficult for bowlers to defend," Parnell said.
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"It's about being strong and focusing on each ball. He's allowed to play good shots, but the other day he was lucky as well. He's certainly a guy whom I enjoyed watching the last couple of months. He's certainly playing good cricket," he added.
Parnell insisted that their flop show in the first T20I was an aberration and there's no need to panic before the T20 World Cup in Australia.
"It's just one of those things. It wasn't a good T20 wicket and they bowled really well, but our batters have been world-class in the last couple of years so there's nothing to panic about," he said.
On their poor show in the powerplay when they were struggling at 9/5, Parnell said, "It's a bit of a Catch-22 situation really. Certainly, experience tells you that new ball does swing so you have to have a look at the first one-two overs."
"We have to credit the Indian seamers who bowled really well. We will have to define ways to counter that in the second game."
Kagiso Rabada and Parnell hit the right lengths but the likes of Anrich Nortje and Tabraiz Shamsi struggled badly in the first match as the visitors looked one seamer short.
"Competition is good for the spots. Every single fast bowler is different and has different skill sets. It's a positive sign for us. It also means that when we are presented with any particular condition, we can play a certain set of fast bowlers so I think personally having the variety that we have is really exciting," he said.
(Inputs by PTI)
