It wasn’t the best of starts to team India’s T20 campaign in the series. But on a beautiful batting pitch at the HPCA stadium in Dharamsala, the Indian batsmen made merry. Rohit Sharma scored his maiden T20I century and was ably supported by Virat Kohli who got a 27-ball 43. India as a result set a target of 200 which was skillfully chased down by South Africa with two balls to spare. India captain MS Dhoni felt 200 was a good total to defend and accounted failure to capitalise on certain phases of the game for the loss. “There were phases in the games. Two phases of four deliveries each where we gave a lot of runs. That actually put a lot of pressure,” Dhoni said after the match. “Overall, I think when you put around 200 on board, there will be a considerable amount of pressure on the bowlers because oppositions will also look to chase them down. 200 was close to par score looking at everything but I felt we could’ve done slightly better with our bowling. It was definite that you were going to get hit for sixes and fours but it was important not to give away those runs in those six deliveries. You have bad overs but you have to restrict to maybe 12 or 15 runs and that really helps the bowler coming after you to give him that cushion of an extra five or six runs. You have to keep choking the opposition to win games like these,” explained Dhoni. When asked if the bowlers would have done better on a different pitch, Dhoni said, “Looking at the conditions, you could say it was more of a war of batsmen. At times you have to take pressure off the bowlers and tell them that definitely the sides will hit. But what’s important is the way you come back once you get hit and how you bowl the next delivery. You can’t go for three or four sixes in one over or give three or four boundaries in one over because that gives away a lot of runs and at the same time it gives momentum to the opposition batsmen.” Dhoni did have some words of praise for his spinners. R Ashwin was economical going for just 26 in his four overs with the wicket of AB de Villiers to go with it. Axar Patel created a few doubts in the minds of the South Africa batsmen, until JP Duminy slammed him for three sixes on the trot in his final over to leave Patel with dismal bowling figures. The Indian captain though felt Axar had done a good job with the ball. “I think our spinners did bowl well. If you take Axar’s one over out of the game, I think he bowled really well. It happens in T20, when a batsman is set, at times you see even good bowlers go for runs. Today was a one-off game where Axar went for runs. If you see he is very consistent with his line and length. He isn’t someone who gives a lot of loose deliveries so you have to play the big stroke to get runs out of him. I was quite happy apart from that one over. Overall, I think we can go with more spinning options. We will have to keep in mind the venues and the dew factor because if there is a lot of dew it will be hard for the spinners.” Even the pacers were dealt with severity. Mohit Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar went for forty runs each in their quota of four overs even as debutant S Arvind had a forgettable first outing going for 44 in 3.4 overs. Dhoni though came in full support for Aravind’s capabilities. “He is someone who has done well in T20s. Also he gives you that variation in bowling; a left-arm pacer who is a bit different. We are also rewarding (him for) what he has done consistently in the T20 format. He is someone who bowls quite a few variations and he is quite good at it but I think he bowled decently well though the pitch didn’t support him too much. Yes, he went for runs but when good batsmen are batting on good wickets, more often than not you will feel the pressure.”