Proteas will take valuable lessons from crushing defeat, says Bedingham

Having gained some crucial experience, in-form batter David Bedingham says the Proteas cricket team are hoping to take some lessons they have learned into next week’s second Test against the Black Caps.

In the first game, which came to a close yesterday, South Africa were handed a 281-run defeat as they fell 1-0 behind in the two-match series.

After racking up 511 runs in their first innings, the hosts restricted the tourists to 162.

In their second innings, the Black Caps declared at 179/4 and went on to dismiss the Proteas for 247 to secure victory with a day to spare.

The SA team, which included six uncapped players, nonetheless took some positives from the match. Bedingham scored a half-century (87 runs off 96 balls) in their second innings and captain Neil Brand stood out with the ball, taking eight of New Zealand’s 14 wickets that fell during the match.

The Black Caps dominated throughout, however, anchored by rookie Rachin Ravindra who scored a double century in their first innings and experienced batter Kane Williamson who made two tons (118 and 109).

The home side’s bowling attack were also on point, led by Kyle Jamieson and Mitchell Santner who grabbed six wickets each.

‘Tough Test’

“It was obviously a tough Test for us. I think a lot of learnings can be taken from how they (New Zealand) batted,” said Bedingham, who turned out in his third Test.

“They absorbed a lot of pressure in the first two sessions and then gave it back to us in the later periods when our guys were maybe a bit tired.”

With the hosts aiming to wrap up their first ever Test series win against South Africa, Bedingham said the Proteas were eager to fight back in the second and final encounter in an attempt to continue the nation’s lengthy unbeaten run.

He felt it was best for them not to look back, focusing rather on the next game starting in Hamilton on Tuesday.

“I don’t want to look at the negative side because we still have another Test to play and hopefully win, but I think we can take a lot of learnings from this experience,” he said.

“For a lot of our players it was their first Test, so if we can learn and improve going into the next Test, I think that will be a good thing for us.”