Keshav Maharaj Admits Inexperience, Refuses to Use It as Excuse

Keshav Maharaj acknowledged South Africa's inexperience but emphasized it's no excuse for their struggles. He's taking responsibility as captain, showing maturity. South Africa's young team needs to step up, and Maharaj is leading by example. After bowling New Zealand out for 91 in game one, South Africa were dismissed for 107 in game two, chasing 176. They were then held to 136 for 9 in game three. In the last two games, only George Linde has scored an individual score over 30, which speaks to how stop-and-start South Africa's batting has been. The pitch has been a bit of a wildcard, hasn't it. One minute it's a "belter" for run-scoring, the next it's playing tricks on the batters. South Africa's definitely feeling the inconsistency, with good bounce and sticking deliveries throwing them off. All of South Africa's batters were dismissed trying to go for big shots, which disappointed Maharaj. "It's definitely something we discussed… They felt like the only way was to target the short boundary, but it was a bit disappointing to say the least," he said. "Conversations we had prior to coming into this game were about the short boundary. Our coaching staff mentioned that teams that look too much into the short boundary actually shoot themselves in the foot, and that's exactly what happened with us today." Maharaj's keeping it real. He's acknowledging the team's inconsistencies but putting the onus on the players to step up. "We're all professional enough; we are representing our country" - that's some strong leadership. But, there are caveats. Two of their top six, Connor Esterhuizen and Dian Forrester, are on their first tour. There are also only 33 T20I caps between Wiaan Mulder, Tony de Zorzi, Jason Smith and Rubin Hermann.