Spinners won the match for us: Dravid

Bangalore:

Skipper Rahul Dravid gave credit to the spinners for helping India bounce back with a six-wicket win against South Africa in the second one-day international today. Dravid said the team had a game plan of giving spinners the first use of the dry pitch if they won the toss at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and the slow bowlers repaid the faith. "The wicket was slow and it was turning a bit, our spinners bowled really well. The kind of pressure we created on them really paid off," Dravid said after the match. Dew factor Dravid, playing before his home crowd as captain for the first time, said his decision to field first revolved around the game plan involving the spinners and that the pitch and the dew were factors in it. "I had a long though about it last night. When I visited the ground this morning, I just thought the pitch was quite dry, and wanted our spinners to bowl first with dry ball," the captain said. "I knew that if we get 20 overs of spin bowling first, we could do better and maybe later on with dew coming, my spinners may not be able to spin the ball. "I thought of giving spinners a first chance, and they responded beautifully. Irfan's wicket upfront was fantastic for us. It set the tone for the whole game for us," he added. Toss crucial South African captain Graeme Smith rued that the toss played such a huge role but refused to make that an excuse for the team's defeat. "Toss played a bigger role than expected," Smith said. "We lost a few wickets upfront and the wicket was very dry. The wicket was helpful for spinners. Once we lost wickets upfront, it was always going to be difficult. "It is not an excuse. All credit to the Indians, they used the conditions well, fielded well and the spinners bowled well," the South African kipper said. The defeat meant the end of South Africa's winning streak of 20 victories, falling one short of the record 21 wins by Australia. (PTI)