India speedster Bhuvneshwar Kumar said that India’s poor fielding cost them the crucial game against South Africa. South Africa moved top of Group 2 after beating the Indian team by five wickets at the Perth Stadium on Sunday. Defending a below-par 133, Team India couldn’t restrict the total as well. Meanwhile, R Ashwin, who was the only frontline spinner on the side, had a rather forgettable show.

“Yes if we would have taken those catches, it could have been a different result. Of course catches win matches, or good fielding help you win matches. So if we would have taken those chances or those run-outs, then things could have been different,” he told reporters at the post-match press conference. “The catches we dropped or the run-out chances we missed; we knew that if we would have taken those, then things could have been different. But there wasn’t any particular moment where we can say that the momentum shifted towards their side.”

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Aiden Markram was dropped by Kohli at deep mid-wicket when he was on 35. Notably, it was off Ashwin’s bowling. He went on to score a 41-ball 52, while David Miller played well with an unbeaten knock of 59 of 46 deliveries. It was during their 76-run fourth-wicket alliance that helped them win as well.

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“The general thinking is: if he concedes less runs, then it becomes difficult at the end. Because we have seen sometimes that if the last over is bowled by a spinner, then things become a bit easy for the batting team. So I think that was the thinking there. If there would have been one less boundary or a wicket would have come, then things would have been very different,” Bhuvneshwar Kumar concluded.