India captain Shikhar Dhawan admitted that his team leaked too many runs in the death overs and fielded poorly, leading to the nine-run defeat to South Africa in the rain-hit first ODI here on Thursday.
Opting to bowl in the rain-curtailed 40-over-a-side game, India had reduced South Africa to 110 for 4 in 22.4 overs but David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen powered the visitors to 249 for 4.
While the Indian bowlers conceded 54 runs in the last five overs, the hosts were also guilty of dropping as many as four catches in the outfield.
