By IANS,
Kolkata: South African middle-order bat Hashim Amla feels good fortune and dropped catches combined to his stupendous success in the tour, in which he piled up 490 runs and was out only once.
Amla scored hundreds in each of the three innings he played in the series, including centuries in both innings of the second and last Test at the Eden Gardens, where India won by an innings and 57 runs here Thursday.
“I think I have been fortunate on quite a few occasions, without doubt. A few dropped catches here and there… I could have been dismissed earlier,” said Amla, who was adjudged both man of the match and man of the series.
“Every professional cricketer goes through certain tours and series where they excel. I have just been fortunate this tour has been my opportunity. Things have worked for me on the field.
“I give credit to the fortune. Dropped catches really helped the cause,” said Amla, the first South African of Indian origin to make the national squad.
Amla struck useful partnerships with tail-enders Wayne Parnell and Morne Morkel on the final Thursday, which had almost saved the Test for South Africa.
“Both told me they were comfortable at the other end, it made my job a lot easier in trying to find the strike,” he said.
South Africa lost the match by an innings and 57 runs after Morkel became the last man to get out with only nine balls left for the day. Amla remained not out on 127.
Asked about his mental preparation before getting out to bat Thursday, the batsman said: “When at the back of your mind you know if you have to bat a whole day, to break it down is the key, ball by ball, over by over, it’s just the basics.”
“There is no science to it… I just wanted to keep it simple,” he added.